The Parent Untrap
by Dream Ablaze
Summary: AU. Explores RYUKI relationship. Rika's mom likes Ryo's dad. Ryo's dad likes Rika's mom. Their children completely and utterly despise each other. Obviously, the couple must be broken up. But the only way to do it is for Rika and Ryo to... work together?
1. Family Dynamics

Hi everyone. :3 I'm Rea and this is my new fic. Er, I know that 'untrap' isn't a real word, but… but… neither is Digimon! xP

I recently held a contest between two of my other fics to see who could get to 100 reviews first. As stupidity goes, mine is acute: I completely forgot that it doesn't say the times that reviews are posted. xD

Anyway, the winner was supposed to get the next update, and I have no idea who the winner was. So, uhh, I decided to create a new fic instead so nobody killed me! xD;

I hope you like it. This is just an intro chapter right now but I hope to have more up soon. :3

-x-

The Parent Untrap  
Chapter One: Family Dynamics

-x-

"We both loved your father very much, but it's been a long time."

When she heard her mother say this, Rika knew her world was about to get a lot more complicated.

She'd been trying to ignore Rumiko and hide behind her book, but her supermodel mother was not used to having her face hidden. She adjusted to it well, bobbing around to make herself visible to her annoyed daughter. Finally Rika shut her eyes and rammed the book against her own face.

That was when Rumiko had said the telltale words. After that, she had Rika's attention. The girl dropped the book and it fell in a clatter on the hardwood floor, losing Rika's place. She didn't care. She couldn't even recall she'd _been_ reading a book.

Rumiko smiled, glad she was the center of attention again. It felt strange for her when she wasn't, like something was wrong with the world. In any case, the earth came back into balance when all eyes were on her. "Thank you, Rika," she said.

Rika just stared at her, awaiting the worst. Her violet eyes regarded Rumiko sharply, and they would have unnerved the model if she didn't have the same color in her own eyes. Everyone said that was Rumiko's best quality – of course, they all made it quite clear that she didn't have any _average_ (a four-letter word in the modeling business) qualities, but her amethyst eyes were "simply ravishing".

"I just think it might be time for me to move on, Rika," Rumiko said. She gave a mournful sigh and looked down at the floor, the image of a troubled woman. Sort of. Her mother may have been a model, but she was no actress. Rika just rolled her eyes at her performance. Well, that was what she usually would have done, anyway. This time, she was too shocked for her annoyed, sardonic air.

Okay, maybe the annoyed part was still applicable. But this was more than her day-to-day irritation with butterflies and pastel colors. "Are you serious? Are you trying to mess me up even more than you already have?"

Rumiko sniffed. "You're so melodramatic."

"No, melodramatic is crying over a split end, _Mother_," Rika snapped.

Rumiko looked up at her sharply. "That was once, Rika Nonaka. And I was PMSing!"

Rika ignored her. "Melodramatic is having a tantrum when they don't have the pair of shoes you want in your size."

Rumiko crossed her arms. "And that was only twice. Listen to me – "

"Melodramatic is not being upset that your mother is announcing her engagement to you two days before the wedding!" Rika finished.

The two sets of purple eyes glared at each other for a long moment. Rika was almost as tall as her mother now at sixteen and their eyes nearly met. Rika cursed the extra three inches, but she knew she'd win in the long run anyway. She always won. Her mother was a pushover, and Rika was a much better debater than her. Rumiko glared right back at her daughter. She didn't get mad very easily, but she just didn't understand Rika. Sometimes it was hard not to lose her patience, especially when she was coming to ask for her help in something exciting like this. She'd thought Rika might _want_ to help. She'd thought maybe they could bond! They seriously needed to do some of that. They were way overdue.

Finally, Rumiko broke the icy stare and the silence. She blinked, looking confused. "Wait, I'm not engaged," she said.

Rika was almost relieved, but still regarded her mother suspiciously. "Then what are you?" she asked.

"I'm just ready to start dating again!" Rumiko chirped happily, all the previous tension forgotten. "Just casual – nothing serious."

Rika shook her head. As if that wasn't bad enough? She didn't want her mom running around with a bunch of old creeps! "Whatever happened to 'men are pigs'?" she asked. That was usually Rumiko's outlook on the "evil sex".

Rumiko waved her hand airily at her daughter. "Oh, Rika. We all knew that was just a phase I was going through. I am now ready to accept men into my life. Of course I won't get too serious with them, though. I know men are pigs. I'm not going to let my heart get broken this time."

"Yeah right," Rika snorted. "Mom, you get attached to everything. That's why we had to turn Grandma's office into your storage room, because you couldn't bear to part with anything."

Rumiko sighed. "Rika. Please." She put a hand on either one of her daughter's shoulders. "I am begging you to approve this. I need your approval. I don't want to do anything that my daughter doesn't want me to do. But…" Her eyes widened, and Rika raised her eyebrows. Her mom looked so desperate. "Rika. I have certain… womanly needs – "

"_Mom_!"

"I'm sorry, but it's true. But most of all…" Her voice became softer. "I'm lonely, Rika. You're at school and with your friends all day, and Mom always has something to do. I have fashion shoots, but when I come back home I find an empty house with nothing to do. You know how hard it is for me to keep friends. All my friends get jealous because of how beautiful I am."

Rika rolled her eyes.

Rumiko didn't seem to notice. "I'd like to be able to go out with a man sometimes. I'd like to be able to go see a movie with someone. Do you know how many times I've sat alone in a theater watching a romantic movie? It's pathetic, Rika."

Her daughter frowned. Rika wasn't a monster. She _did_ want her mom to be happy. But it wasn't like Rika was out all the time like Rumiko said. They just didn't go out and do anything together unless it was a family event with Rika's grandmother Seiko involved. Rumiko and Seiko did things, and Rika and Seiko did things, but rarely just Rumiko and Rika. They were too different. And if Rumiko had a boyfriend, she would spend even less time with Rika.

"Rika?" Rumiko asked – pleaded. "Will you approve of me dating?"

Still, how could Rika be so horrible to her mother? She wanted her to be happy. And though Rumiko was always smiling, Rika detected despondency deep within her. It was the sadness that comes from loving someone too deeply – the kind of love that perseveres even after they've left you with no money and a daughter to take care of. Rika thought Rumiko would never get over her father, but it seemed she was trying to. And if she was able to forget Rika's father, then maybe she would be happy again.

"Fine, Mom," Rika finally said, eyes on the ground. Rumiko squealed and threw her arms around her daughter. Rika flushed, embarrassed. They weren't the kind of family that bought into all this closeness stuff. Rika didn't hug Rumiko back.

"I knew you'd say yes," Rumiko gushed, releasing her daughter. "That's why I signed myself up for a speed dating session tonight!"

"_What_?" Rika demanded. "_Speed_ dating? Mom, you can't be serious!"

"I read in a magazine it's a great way to meet guys. Or maybe I should make a profile on a dating website?" Rumiko paused, contemplating.

"_No_!" Rika exclaimed. She shook her head. "Speed dating will do just fine." Wasn't Rika supposed to be the kid here? Wasn't she supposed to be the one to meet someone online? Rumiko was supposed to be the one who told her how she couldn't meet him because of how dangerous it was. Honestly, her mother was completely insane. Maybe that was why she still lived with her own mother, because Rumiko couldn't be depended on to think with a parental brain.

"Oh, I'm so excited!" Rumiko exclaimed. "I have to decide what to wear! Maybe my low-cut red dress, or possibly that new mini-skirt I just got…"

Rika stared at her mom in horror. "Mom. I'm going with you," she said. She was _not_ going to let Rumiko get kidnapped and raped! Who knew what those speed dating weirdos were like. And Rumiko was a model…

"Oh, it's eighteen and over," Rumiko said. "Besides, we can't be flirting with the same men!"

"Ew," Rika said. "I don't want to actually do it. But I'm going with you. Like… your chaperone."

Rumiko giggled. Sure, she was a grown woman, but it might be fun. At least that way they'd get to spend some time together! "Okay, Rika," she said. "But we have to make you look eighteen or you won't be able to get in the door!"

Rika sighed and slumped over. "I'm guessing that means makeup."

-x-

"Hey, kid," came a gruff voice as soon as Ryo had set foot in his house. He'd been at the park celebrating his birthday with a couple of his old friends who wanted to get back in touch with him now that he was back from America. He'd come back a few days ago to attend the rest of high school in Japan.

Today was his birthday, and his dad had told him to come back early so they could have a special dinner together. Ryo couldn't really imagine his forgetful, distant dad having any kind of celebration for him, but he was looking forward to it.

Ryo walked over to his dad Akira with his regular relaxed smile. He always had a laid-back air about him, partially because of his calm blue eyes and his warm smile. His father was not laid-back. He was always working, and always full of stress and tension. He was starting to get lines around his eyes and mouth even though he was rather young for a father.

Ryo looked down at his father, who was reading the paper. He was wearing his normal clothes, a suit and tie, but was that… cologne he smelled? Oh well. Maybe he just wanted to smell good for Ryo's birthday dinner. He wondered if they were going to a fancy place. Most likely, with his dad's taste. "Should I change?" Ryo was wearing jeans and a maroon sweater. The sweater could stay, but…

Dark brown eyes finally glanced up at Ryo. "Why would you?" he asked.

Ryo shrugged. "You're dressed up," he said.

Akira looked down at his outfit, as if he had no idea what he was wearing. "Guess so," he said.

There was an awkward silence. Akira had sent Ryo abroad to study in the United States after his mother had died. Ryo's mother had always taken care of him, and Akira hadn't been around much. He'd told Ryo that he was sending him to live with his aunt and uncle for a little while until he could find out how to take care of him. But Ryo had been living in San Francisco for three years, and he finally asked his dad if he could come back. Akira had told him he could, but that he still wouldn't be around much. Now that Ryo was turning eighteen, he wouldn't need anyone to take care of him. He had a feeling his dad didn't really want him there, though. But there was only one more year and Ryo would be moving out and going to college anyway.

"So, when are we going out?" Ryo asked, trying to make conversation. He hoped dinner wouldn't be this awkward.

Another confused stare. "Out?"

Ryo blinked a few times. "For… my birthday dinner," he reminded his dad.

Recognition appeared in Akira's eyes. "It's your birthday today!" he exclaimed. Ryo nodded dumbly. He hadn't had a chance to see his dad yet that day because he went to work before Ryo woke up. Akira cleared his throat. "I told you I'd take you out tonight for dinner, didn't I?"

Ryo nodded again.

"I just – I made plans."

"Oh. Okay." Ryo smiled tightly. "It's okay," he said.

"No, no, I'll reschedule!" Akira exclaimed, jolting out of the seat and running to the phone. He began dialing a number.

"It's really okay, Dad," Ryo said. "I'm not hungry anyway." His stomach growled. Damn.

"Let me just call and see something," Akira said. He held the phone to his ear. "Yes, hello," he said into it. "This is Akiyama Akira. I was wondering if my session tonight could be refunded… Oh. Yes… I see… Well, thank you." He hung up and frowned at Ryo. "They said it's too late to cancel."

Ryo shrugged, a good-natured smile on his face. "I'll be fine; go ahead."

'You sure?" Akira asked, and Ryo nodded. "Why don't we go out to dinner afterwards? Yes, that's perfect. We'll go out afterwards. Wherever you want."

It was better than nothing. "Okay, Dad," Ryo said.

"You can come with me. My friend was going to come, but he's sick. So you can come instead."

"Okay."

Akira, satisfied that Ryo was fine with him forgetting his birthday, sat back down and picked up the paper.

-x-

End of Chapter One: Family Dynamics 

-x-

Soo, didja like it so far? Feel free to review! Actually please do. xD Any reviews of love and happiness would be appreciated as well as any constructive criticism. Hooray! xD


	2. Public Humilation, part one

Hey everyone! Thanks to all the lovely reviewers who made me very happy. ;3 Thank you to **katy007, blessed-with-a-curse, anon, Depthmon, January and Etheron, **and **The Illustionest**.

I'm running short on time, so I can't reply to your individual reviews here right now… Except that one will slightly be addressed to one. Er… confusing?

Thanks to **January and Etheron** for giving me Ryo's dad's name. I searched everywhere for it and couldn't find it… So I made up Akira Akiyama. x3 Except I think I'm going to keep it as that now… I've written three chapters of this already, and I am now attached to the name for some reason. xD I just love the way it sounds! But uh anyway, thank you for telling me his real name. ;D

Okay here we go!

Chapter Two: Public Humiliation, part one 

"And who are you two lovely ladies?"

Rika glowered at him. Since when did speed dating get a sleazy bouncer? As Rumiko was a terrible liar, Rika had been put in charge of getting them in. "We're the Nonaka sisters," she said, remembering the words her mother – aka sister for tonight – had told her. Ugh. "She's Rumiko Nonaka, and I'm… Ruki." She sighed. "I'm very protective of my sister, so I wanted to come along."

The bouncer grinned. "Sorry, honey, but this is a catered event. We don't have any extra seats for anyone."

"I don't need a seat," Rika argued. "I'll just stand there. Really."

"It's not really about the seats," said the bouncer. "It's about the amount of food we have for everyone here."

"Do we look like we eat much?" Rumiko asked sweetly, smiling at him.

"Of course not, you two have perfect figures!"

"Then you won't mind letting us in for the price of one," Rika snapped. "Unless you're calling us fat. In which case, my sister would be very upset. She might sue. She's in the modeling business, and they're allowed to sue if anyone calls them fat." Hopefully he had no brain whatsoever.

"Okay, okay, go on in," he said. "Just don't tell anyone, right?" He grinned. "If you're still available afterwards, I'd love to take you out! Either one of you!"

Rumiko smiled, and Rika was glad to see she'd taken over. "We'll see," the model said coyly, then wiggled her fingers at him. The two entered the speed dating building.

"That was disgusting," Rika muttered. "I can't believe we were both hit on at the same time."

"By someone older than both our ages combined, I'm sure," Rumiko giggled. "Ooh, Rika, this is exciting!"

"Ruki, remember?" Rika reminded her.

Rumiko wasn't listening, though. She hurried over to the arrangement of tables, where she found her name quickly and sat down. Rika headed over as well, feeling self-conscious. It seemed like everyone else was already there, and some of the men were leering at her. Gross. Why had her mom talked her into wearing this?

Rika looked down at herself. This was terrible. She wore a dress Rumiko had bought her, one of the many she'd shoved in her closet and had never tried on. It was a silky reddish-purple color, and Rika hoped it wasn't a sign that it resembled a bridesmaid's dress. The dress had thin straps and a scoop neck. A sash was around the empire waist, tied in back with a large bow. The dress fell to mid-calf, and Rika was wearing some of Rumiko's smaller heels to go with it. The girl scowled as she had to pull up the dress again. It fit her perfectly, but showed a little bit too much cleavage. For Rika, any bit was too much.

It didn't help that her mother had painted her face with makeup. Rika didn't know what she'd done, but she looked like she was an actual adult. Her hair was down and Rumiko had curled it so it fell in loose auburn waves around her thin shoulders. She barely recognized herself in the mirror.

Yes, she looked legal. Maybe that was why so many of the balding men in suits were ogling her. Irritated and tired of their stares, she headed over to the food table and began scooping food onto her plate.

"Hey," came a voice behind her. A male voice. Was she about to get hit on again?

Rika spun around, violet eyes narrowed. She was surprised, though, at the man who the voice belonged to. More of a guy than a man, actually – which was why she was so surprised. He looked like he was her age. Okay, maybe a bit older. He had brown hair and blue eyes, and a sort of lopsided smile on his face. Rika was annoyed to see that he wore jeans. What the hell? All the other guys were dressed up. Rumiko had told her that it was a formal event. She was even more annoyed to note that he was attractive. But not her type at all. He was wearing a sweater. She didn't like guys who wore sweaters. She barely liked guys at all. They were only bearable as friends, but once you started thinking they were more than that, you were expecting too much of them. They didn't know how to deal with stuff like that. Rika had been trained well in the Art of Men according to Rumiko, and she knew that they were only after one thing. Hopefully she could get rid of him before he tried to get this from her.

"I am happily married," Rika said in a monotonous voice.

The guy looked confused.

-x-

They were almost late, traffic was so bad. But they finally pulled up in front of the building and got out.

"Speed dating?" Ryo said in shock, reading the sign by the door. He looked to his father. He was blowing off his birthday dinner for _speed dating_?

"Hurry," was all Akira said. They walked up the steps, Ryo feeling like an idiot. He didn't want to be speed-dated! It was his first night as an adult. Did he really have to do this?

"Names?" asked the bouncer outside.

"Akira Akiyama," said Ryo's father. "And this is Rei Makino."

"Thanks," the man said. "Go on in."

Ryo and Akira entered the building, and Akira looked at his son. "You don't have to do this if you don't want to. You can just wait… Look, there's a girl over there just waiting too." He pointed towards an older girl in a purple dress leaning boredly against the wall.

Ryo nodded with relief. "Okay," he said. "See you afterwards. Good luck…"

"Thank you, Ryo." Akira headed off to find his name.

Ryo's mother Emily had only been dead three years. Had Akira been dating the whole time Ryo was gone? The boy felt like he was going to throw up. Didn't his dad still miss her? Ryo thought about his mother every day. And here was Akira, _speed dating_. Ryo would never understand him.

At least this place had lots of food. Hungry, Ryo headed for the buffet table. He noticed that the girl in the purple dress was doing the same. He was glad there was someone else there who wasn't scrambling to find her name. She seemed about his age, too, if not a few years older.

Grabbing a plate, he went to stand next to her to get a bread roll. "Hey," he said, smiling at her as she turned around to face him.

The girl glared at him. He continued to smile, though he was taken aback by her. She wore a lot of makeup, but other than that she was beautiful. Her hair was brown, with hints of red and gold where the light hit it. And her eyes were an iridescent purple. She was tall, and he couldn't help but think she must be a model. How could she not be? Her copper-colored hair, unusual violet eyes, and pale skin all contributed to a kind of ethereal, mythic quality to her.

But he couldn't avoid the fact that she was shooting daggers at him.

"I am happily married," she told him.

Ryo blinked, confused. Could she read his mind? It wasn't like he came over there to hit on her or anything. He was just hungry. Yeah, she was pretty, but he wasn't planning on doing anything about it.

"Congratulations," he said, not really knowing what else to say.

If her glare could possibly have intensified, it did. He smiled back.

They were both startled by the loud voice on the microphone: "It's time for speed dating!"

-x-

Rika had tried to get away from the creep who kept following her around, but she couldn't. Actually, Ryo was kind of following her around, but it was just because they were both going along the table to get food.

When she had filled her plate, thinking of course about the bouncer and revenge, Rika walked to a table that was off to the side a bit and sat down. Unfortunately for her, it was like all the other tables and had two seats. Ryo looked around. He didn't want the girl to think he was stalking her or anything, but there was nowhere else to sit. So he walked over and set his plate down on the table. "Is this seat taken?" he asked with a grin.

She nodded.

He laughed. She wasn't smiling. The bell for the men to change seats and meet their new speed date rang. Ryo wasn't sure what to say. He just stood there awkwardly.

Rika took pity on him. She hated to feel embarrassed in public, probably because it didn't happen very often. "Sit," she said. "Just don't talk to me."

Ryo smiled again, though not as much as before. He sat down. Who _was_ this girl – woman? He was probably right the first time and she was a model. She was probably one of those stuck-up girly snobs that wouldn't acknowledge anyone without millions of dollars or a perfect body. Well, it was his eighteenth birthday. He wasn't going to have to feel inferior to her just because she was pretty. He wasn't going to let her boss him around.

"So you're here but not… Amongst all that," he said, looking towards the tables where temporary couples sat jabbering to each other. The bell rang, and he watched the men scurry to their next seats. They all seemed eager to talk to one blonde woman who looked younger than everyone else.

"So?" Rika asked, taking a huge bite of food.

Ryo blinked. If she was one of those annoying models, why was she eating so much? And if she was the kind who thought she was the most beautiful thing in the world, why was she stuffing her face and eating with her hands instead of cutting things up and nibbling on them delicately? He exhaled, confused. "So how come you paid for this but you're not taking advantage of it?"

"I could ask the same about you," Rika said, her mouth full of food. Rumiko would have scolded her, but oh well. Maybe this guy would leave her alone if she talked with her mouth full. He was annoying her. He hadn't even touched his food yet. He made her feel incredibly obese. _Eat some damn food already_, she yelled at him in her mind.

He laughed. "I'm with my dad," he said. He didn't want to tell her the whole sad story about his dad forgetting his birthday. Did he really have to? "He dragged me along. You?"

"I'm with my mom. Damn, I mean my sister." Ugh. She had to let that slip to the most annoying guy in the room. Oh well, maybe now he'd know she was underage. Hmm. Good plan, actually. "I'm supposed to say she's my sister. She's really my mom. I couldn't get in cause I'm not eighteen."

The bell rang and one man tripped over his chair. He was pulled up by his neighbor, and they both laughed.

Ryo blinked, staring at Rika. She wasn't eighteen? She looked a few years older than him. "How old are you?" he ventured.

She glared across the table at him. "All you need to know is that I'm underage. Illegal. And I can and will sue if you touch me. Got it?"

So she still thought he was hitting on her or something. Ryo couldn't help but laugh. "Relax," he said. "If I was here for that, I'd be over there."

Rika hesitated. He had a point. But all guys were only after one thing, like Rumiko always said. She may not have agreed with her mother on many things, but they shared the same dislike of males. Or so Rika had always thought… She glared at the guy across from her. She was tired of his stupid smile and his annoying eyes and his droning voice. "And if I was here to socialize with sleazy sex-obsessed losers, I'd be over there. But I'm over here. So shut up, please."

Ryo gaped at her. Was she serious? God, she thought she was so superior. Sleazy sex-obsessed loser? Him? If only she knew how untrue that was. He couldn't believe what a bitch this girl was. _Guess the stereotype about pretty girls is true after all_, he thought.

Rika was relieved. He wasn't replying now. She scanned the room to find her mother sitting across from someone who looked older than Rika's grandmother. They were talking animatedly. Gross. Did Rumiko really think someone like that could satisfy her 'womanly needs'? Rika couldn't help but smirk.

Ryo was still staring at the bitchy girl. Nobody had ever said something like that to him before. Girls were always nice to him, even to the point of being obsequious. But she was something different… Ryo was even more amazed to see she _smiled_ to herself.

Ugh. He was still staring at her. Rika's eyes slid back over to look at him and her smirk rolled right off her face as she gave him the worst glare she could come up with.

The bell rang.

When she'd glared like this to her 'friends' Kazu and Kenta recently, they'd run away. Kenta had nearly peed in his pants. They were smart enough (was she really putting Kazu and Kenta in the same sentence as smart?) to know that when Rika was mad, Rika was scary. You didn't cross Rika. And when she gave you that glare, you better run away or it was your own fault what happened next.

Ryo didn't run away.

He was still staring at her, but at least he'd finally closed his mouth. But he didn't run.

Instead, he laughed.

Rika gasped and she grabbed the sides of the table. "What are you laughing at?" she growled.

"You!" he couldn't help but sputter. "Your face – your expression! It was just…" He laughed again.

Rika's anger about whatever she'd even been angry about before washed away, confusion taking its place. He was _laughing_ at her? At the worst glare she had? Nobody laughed at that. That glare meant business. That glare meant death.

But he was laughing.

He was absolutely _insane_.

Her face flushed red. Did she really look that stupid when she glared at someone? No, because Kazu had never remarked about it before. Kazu had admitted he was scared, and Kazu never did that. Who _was_ this guy?

She remembered why she was mad before. And she remembered that she was still mad at him, and that he'd laughed at her. Her previous anger grew about ten times.

"Do you have a death wish?" Rika spat.

He just kept laughing. He couldn't stop. He didn't even know why he was laughing so much. Her expression hadn't been that funny. But it was this whole situation. Accompanying his dad to speed dating? On his eighteenth birthday? And this girl, who thought so much of herself that no guy could talk to her without it being considered hitting on her. It was all that – plus her expression. The way she narrowed her eyes and stuck out her bottom lip ever so slightly – not in a pouty way, of course – god, no, nearly the opposite of that – and lowered her head a bit as if she were a bull, about to charge. The way the temperature in the room noticeably lowered a few degrees from the glare alone. Cold violet fire raged in her eyes. She was so mad. And he couldn't help but find that extraordinarily funny.

She couldn't believe him. He was crazy on top of being a sleazy sex-obsessed loser. What a wonderful combination. Worst of all, though – and this was the ultimate insult as far as she was concerned – he had embarrassed her. He didn't take her seriously, and she was completely and utterly embarrassed. She _hated_ being embarrassed.

_I'll show him what public humiliation is_, she thought bitterly to herself, a small smirk growing across her face.

Rika stood up and promptly poured the contents of her plate over Ryo's head. Then she gave an ice-cold chortle and strode away to lean against the other wall again, leaving the boy to gasp in shock as food ran down his perfectly styled hair.

The bell rang.

End of Chapter Two: Public Humiliation, part one 

Yay there it is! Please review, and thanks for reading!


	3. Introductions

Hey everyone! :3

Sorry about my incredibly long break. D: I actually did have the rough draft of this written, but I had so much stuff to do (college stuff, finals, GRADUATION! xD) I didn't have time to rewrite it and post it. Also, I just got a new computer (graduation present, yaaay!), and I had to transfer over all my files.

So anyway. I'm posting this one first, and then I'll get to work posting new chapters of **Fast Times at Odaiba High** and **The Pyramid of Darkness**. In that order, probably.

ANYWAY. Thank you to my reviewers: **anon, blessed-with-a-curse, Depthmon, The Illusionest, **and **ryukitjha**.

Sorry again for the wait. Now, onto chapter three!

-x-

**Chapter Three: Introductions**

-x-

Her mother was talking to a man. Speed dating was over, so why was she still talking to a man? It was basically illegal. Rika was leaning against the wall still, arms crossed. She was ready to go already. This was not how she wanted to spend her Friday night. She was supposed to hang out with Jeri, Takato, and Henry tonight. And instead she was babysitting her mom and trying to escape middle-aged, leering perverts.

The boy she'd thrown her food on had stormed into the men's bathroom without so much as a glare in her direction. She had enjoyed this sight greatly. It had probably been the highlight of her night.

Meaning that this whole night was a disaster. Yes, yes, she wanted Rumiko to be happy – she had to keep reminding herself about that – but it was rather hard to watch her flirt with all these old men.

Okay, so not all of them were old. One of them was actually rather young – the one Rumiko was talking to now. But that wasn't the point.

Rumiko glanced over her shoulder to see Rika, who sighed impatiently. Her mother turned and said something to the man, then hurried over to her daughter with a wide smile. "Rika darling! I met the nicest man," she told her.

Rika wanted to shake her head, but it was hard not to notice Rumiko's flushed cheeks and glittering eyes. Damn it.

"His name is Akira. He invited us out for dinner – right now!"

"Sounds…great," Rika forced herself to say. At least she'd be able to see what this guy was like and if she should let her mom go out with him.

"And he has a son around your age with him. Oh, this is going to be so much fun!"

-x-

"Ryo? Are you in here?"

Ryo was still trying to fix his hair in the sink, as he had been for about the last ten minutes. "Yeah, Dad…" he said mournfully. He couldn't get it to pile back up right. No matter what he did, it flopped down around his head in waves – the way his hair was naturally. He really needed to get waterproof gel.

"I thought I saw you come in here a few minutes ago," Akira said. "Are you sick? Did you throw up?"

"No, Dad…"

"Then how come you've been in here so long?"

Ryo glanced at his dad. "Are you serious? Dad, my hair!"

Akira looked at it. "I don't see anything wrong with it. It looks fine!"

His son gave something that sounded like a whimper and kept trying to tease his hair back into place.

"It looks better the way it is now, actually," Akira said impatiently. "Anyway, all set to go out to dinner?"

Ryo gave his hair one last attempt, then gave up and smoothed it down around his head so it didn't look so messy. "Yeah." He walked towards his dad. "Where are we going?" he asked with a hint of a smile. Okay, so that crazy girl had killed his hair, but at least he'd never have to see her again.

"Wherever you want. There's just one thing… I met this woman, and I invited her and her daughter to come with us," Akira said.

Ryo nodded slowly. "Okay," he said calmly. Not like it was his birthday or anything. But that was pretty much the way his dad was…

"It'll be fun. Come on!" Akira said, pushing his son out the door. They stood there a moment and Akira looked around. "Oh, there they are now," he said. He led Ryo over to a blonde woman, talking to someone else. The way she was standing, Ryo couldn't see who she was talking to… but that was all resolved in a matter of seconds as the blonde woman moved.

Rika stared at him, horrified. "_You_?"

Ryo was equally as shocked. "_You_!"

At the exact same time, they looked to their parents. "No way," they spoke in unison.

Rika glared at Ryo. "Don't do that," she snapped.

He snorted. "You did it, I didn't."

"I did what?"

"Whatever you're accusing me of doing!"

"Now, kids," Rumiko said with a laugh.

"You two already know each other?" Akira asked.

Ryo looked up at him pitifully. "Dad, please. I would really prefer to just have dinner with you alone." It was time to be honest. If it had been anyone else he would have lied and said it was fine, but there was no way he was going out to dinner with this maniac. She'd thrown food on him from a buffet table – who knew what she would do if she had a whole restaurant.

Rika was trying to convince her mother of the same thing. "I think it's too soon, Mom, if you want my honest opinion. If you go out to dinner with him, he's gonna get the wrong idea about you. And once men have the wrong idea about you, then they'll never respect you. Remember?" It was one of Rumiko's teachings. It was one of her lifestyle rules. It couldn't fail!

"Ryo, you're an adult starting today. So you need to think about other people's feelings instead of being childish. Rumiko and her lovely daughter Rika are coming with us," Akira told his son sternly. Ryo nearly died.

"That's so old-fashioned, Rika," Rumiko simply chided. "Do you want to be an old-fashioned woman who sits around waiting for a man to call back and worrying about what he thinks of her, or do you want to be a New Woman who defies standards and does what she wants without worrying about society?" Rumiko smiled defiantly. Rika gawked.

"Now introduce yourself to young Rika Nonaka," Akira instructed.

"You too, Rika," came Rumiko's voice. "I think you two will really like each other."

Ryo sighed. Okay, so they had gotten off on the wrong foot. But he kind of did like his hair this way. Maybe it would become his new style! If so, he'd have her to thank. In any case, he knew his father was right. He had to start acting like an adult if he wanted others to treat him like one. And that meant doing things he didn't want to if they made someone else happy. Namely, his father. Ryo didn't approve of his father dating or getting over his mother so quickly – it seemed quickly, anyway. And he wished his father's date didn't have this girl for a daughter. But maybe she wouldn't be so bad if they got the chance to talk. Maybe she was just nervous for her mother and that's why she'd been acting like a bitch. Maybe her mother was right and they would get to be friends – perhaps it was a stretch, but he was optimistic. He always gave people a second chance. Ryo smiled at her. "It's nice to meet you – properly. I'm Ryo Akiyama."

Rika's eyes narrowed. She didn't have to think about it. She knew how she felt. There was no way in hell she was even going to like him, despite what her mother said. She stared at him.

Rika's mother shifted. "Rika, introduce yourself," she hissed.

"No," Rika said, still staring at Ryo menacingly.

"Rika, you're being rude!"

"I don't care. Mr. Ryo Akiyama here is much ruder than anyone else on the planet."

"Ryo, were you rude to this nice girl?" Akira gasped.

Ryo shook his head. "No! Not at all."

Rika snorted. "Yeah right."

"Rika! Don't make a scene!" Rumiko cried.

"Ryo, apologize to her! Now!" Akira demanded.

_I thought I was an adult_, Ryo thought sarcastically. "I'm very sorry for any behavior you might have interpreted as rude," he said dully.

Another pause. "Rika, accept his apology and introduce yourself." Rumiko's eyes were wide.

"Why?"

"Because!"

"No."

"_Rika_!"

Rika looked up at Rumiko innocently. Her mother's face was red with embarrassment and her mouth was hanging open. Her eyes were wide and glossy. Oh god – it was the look she got before she started crying. She liked to cry to make Rika succumb to her. She never cried at home, only in public. Rika couldn't stand it. It made her feel so terrible, like she was the worst person on earth. Seeing the warning signs of Rumiko's crying did the trick this time, too.

Rika looked back at Ryo, violet eyes meeting cerulean ones. "I accept your apology," she said, as mechanically as he had apologized. "It's also nice to meet you, Ryo Akiyama. I am Rika Nonaka."

"There! Was that so hard?" Rumiko said with a giggle. Rika looked up at her smiling mother, amazed. Maybe she _was_ an actress…

-x-

**End of Chapter Three: Introductions**

-x-

Sorry if that was kind of short. I'll update soon!

Please let me know what you think in your reviews.


	4. The Birthday from Hell slash PH part two

Hey everyone! I'm back with a new update. Hopefully I'll update **Fast Times** and **The Pyramid of Darkness** soon, so watch for updates for those too!

I am eternally indebted to: **Depthmon, anon, The Illusionest,** and **Kaoru2585** for reviewing the last chapter. Thank you!

Without further ado, here's the story!

-x-

**Chapter Four: The Birthday from Hell/Public Humiliation pt. 2**

-x-

"I hate Italian food."

"How can you hate Italian food?"

"What do you mean? Why is it so likeable? It's crap."

Ryo and Rika sat in the backseat of Akira's car as they drove to Ryo's favorite restaurant. Rumiko and Akira were talking in the front, completely ignoring their offspring. Rika was satisfied complaining, and Ryo was trying to be optimistic – still. He thought he must be the nicest guy in the world to put up with Rika. She thought he must be crazy, and wished he'd stopped trying to talk to her by now. I mean, hadn't he learned? Most people weren't this slow to catch on.

"Come on. Everyone likes Italian food. Pasta? Pizza?" He was trying.

"Both crap."

"You don't like _pizza_?"

"Nope."

"This place has amazing pizza. All the toppings are actually inside the cheese, and the tomato sauce is in big chunks over it – it's awesome." Ryo's stomach nearly devoured itself, he was so hungry. At first, he'd thought it was weird that the toppings were inside, and didn't quite trust that they'd give him the right one – because without toppings to mark it, how did they know what kind it was? But somehow, they did.

Rika, as usual, burst through his happiness with a dry comment of her own. "Sounds like crap to me. All pizza is crap."

He shook his head. "Seriously, who doesn't like _pizza_?"

"Me, obviously. Do I have to explain everything like fifty times to you or what?"

She actually did like pizza. And pasta, for that matter. And calzones and gelato. But he said he wanted to get Italian food. And she wanted to complain.

"I just don't see how anyone could be anti-pizza." Ryo shrugged.

"I just don't see why you get to pick where we eat. Why can't I pick?"

Ryo sighed. "Rika, when is your birthday?"

Rika glared at him. "Are you hitting on me?"

He blinked. "What?"

"You asked me my birthday. Which can be used to figure out my sign. So basically you're asking me my sign. Thus my suspicion of you trying to hit on me." She rolled up her fists. "Are you trying to hit on me right now? Cause if you are, I swear – "

"Believe me, I'm not that insane," Ryo said, irritated. "Just tell me when your birthday is."

Rika rolled her eyes. "March thirty-first. Now why are you asking me?"

"There. You can pick the restaurant you want to go to in… um, about a half a year. But I get to tonight because it's my birthday. The first of October."

"It's your birthday? And you went with your dad to speed dating where he picked up my mom and me? And now you're inviting us out to your birthday dinner where people will sing and give you free dessert?" Rika said, incredulous. "What kind of a weird family are you?"

"First of all, I never tell restaurants it's my birthday. I _hate_ the whole singing-to-you thing. It's so humiliating. And second, we're not that weird of a family. I just got back from a long trip," Ryo said defensively. "I was studying abroad. I haven't seen my dad in a few years. That's why I want to spend time with him for my birthday."

Rika shook her head. "Meaning you're just a loser who doesn't have any friends to hang out with on his birthday." She turned away from him to look out the window. "Leave me alone, please. I'm not going to become your friend just because it's your birthday."

Ryo sighed. It was hard to be so friendly and optimistic around her. "Whatever," he said, and turned to look out his own window. He was actually really popular. He'd been well-liked in Japan before he left, and he'd see some of his old friends when he started school again. Hopefully. He'd had lots of friends in America too. He couldn't understand this insane, antisocial girl telling him he didn't have any friends! How did _she_ keep friends? Or was she only like this to him?

Rika would have been fine with continuing her bickering with Ryo, but the realization that it was his birthday made her feel strange. What kind of dad was Akira, to drag his son along to a speed dating session and pick up some girl to take to the birthday dinner? If it had been her birthday, she'd be _furious_. Maybe that was why Ryo was such a jerk. It was his birthday… She almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

They arrived at the restaurant.

"Rika, remember to be polite," Rumiko hissed to her daughter as they walked in. This reminder was met with a scowl. If only she hadn't said that, Rika might actually have been polite. She might have actually talked to Ryo, since it was his birthday. But now she was going to sit there in stony silence. Thank you Rumiko.

"Ryo, be nice to Rika," Akira told his son. "Sit next to her and make sure to talk to her. Include her." Ryo rolled his eyes. Rika had made it clear she didn't want anything to do with him, so why should he bother her? Why should he even waste energy on her? She would probably only pour more food on his head if he annoyed her.

They sat in a booth, with Ryo and Rika wedged next to each other in the middle. And as before, their parents began talking incessantly to each other across the table. Ryo and Rika sat there silently. Ryo felt awkward. Rika felt stubborn.

The blue-eyed boy quickly picked up his menu and skimmed through it. He knew what he was going to order, but he needed to do _something_ besides sit there. Rika didn't touch her menu, though she had no idea what this restaurant served. Besides the wide umbrella label of 'Italian'. It could have anything: the building was all red and gold and had one of those cheesy violinists who walked around to tables to play songs for people.

Neither Rumiko nor Akira noticed their child's silence. They both had similar thoughts running through their heads. Both were enjoying themselves, though Rumiko kept wondering what had happened to Ryo's mom. She was always curious. It didn't even occur to Akira to wonder about Rika's father. He was actually kind of oblivious to everything besides the woman sitting across from him. Rumiko was so beautiful…

"Um… what are you going to get?" Ryo finally asked Rika. His father had told him to include her, after all.

"I don't know," replied Rika. A wave of stubbornness washed over her, and she added: "Nothing. I'd rather starve than eat Italian food." She crossed her arms.

"Fine," Ryo said. "Well, I'm getting the large mushroom and sausage pizza with extra cheese. I got hooked on those in America. That was where I studied abroad. We went to Chicago over the summer, and the pizza there is – "

"I don't care. I don't like pizza. Leave me alone." Okay, so she really made him stop talking about pizza because she was starving. It wasn't fair that he was ordering her favorite kind. And she _never_ got to have sausage or extra cheese when they ordered pizza. Rumiko was a vegan and wouldn't allow either in the house. They either had to get weird cheese-less pizza from the place that delivered, or buy some soy cheese things that resembled pizza at the grocery store to heat up at home.

"What _do_ you like?" Ryo asked flatly. He glanced at his father. Would Akira even notice if he was talking to Rika?

"Oh, lots of things. Just not pizza and not you." Rika stared down at the tablecloth apathetically. Her words were more offhandedly dismissive than really annoyed.

"Or sleazy sex-obsessed losers?" Ryo asked with a slight grin.

Rika rolled her eyes. "Oh, so you _have_ been paying attention. Did you also get the part where I said leave me alone?"

"Must have missed that."

"Mm. Well. Leave me alone anyway."

"What was that? I didn't catch that."

"Leave me alone."

"Hmm?"

"Whatever your name is – _Akiyama_ – if you don't shut up and leave me alone I swear I am going to make this your birthday from hell." Rika had turned to stare Ryo right in the eyes. Her fiery violet eyes met his cool blue ones, and her scowl met his amused smirk.

"Sounds interesting," Ryo replied.

Rika glowered. "You're going to regret this, Akiyama." She glanced at their parents to see they weren't paying attention, then screamed.

Half the restaurant turned around to stare at her. The violin musician stopped playing and looked confused. Rika slid to her mother's side, away from Ryo on the seat of the booth. "He touched my chest!" she cried.

Ryo's mouth hung open.

"_Ryo_!" Akira thundered, then grabbed his son by the arm roughly and dragged him away towards the men's bathroom.

Rika grinned as she watched them leave.

-x-

"Dad, I didn't – "

"SHUT UP!"

Ryo blinked. He'd never seen his dad act this mad. So he let him pull him into the bathroom. After the door was closed, Akira released him and turned to face him with a stony face.

"Ryo, I know you're an adult now. But you can't do anything you want."

"Dad, I didn't touch – "

"Now, you can fondle the breasts of girls whenever you want," Akira said. Ryo's face turned red. "Just don't do it at the dinner table when your father's date – who he is very interested in – is the girl's mother!"

Ryo stared at his father. "You're only mad because I did it in front of her mom?" He hesitated. "Not that I did do it. I didn't."

Akira nodded. "Sure you didn't. Just don't try it in front of her mother again. If you two need to release your sexual desires, at least leave the table."

Ryo didn't think it was impossible for him to blush any more, but apparently it was. He glanced at himself in the mirror to see what looked like a tomato with wavy hair and Ryo's body. Was his dad always this… frank? Or had that happened when Ryo was away? What had Akira done when his son was in America? Ryo made a face. He really wished he didn't ask himself that question.

"Now, let's go back to the table. You must apologize for accidentally elbowing Rika in the chest," Akira said.

Ryo nodded silently, glad his dad didn't use any more expressive words.

-x-

"Now, Rika, you are a very attractive young girl. You're going to have to get used to and enjoy this," Rumiko said.

Rika stared at her. "You're my _mother_. Are you serious?"

Rumiko nodded. "Young lady, I am very interested in Akira. I can't have this little incident spoiling everything! You'll have to apologize to Ryo for screaming like that."

Rika couldn't believe it. She had the worst mother in the world! Was she really telling Rika to apologize for being upset about being groped? Not that she had been, but still. Rumiko didn't know that. Apparently she didn't know anything, especially about raising children! Though Rika didn't know why she was so surprised.

"No way," Rika finally said. "Mom, you can't be serious. I was just _molested_ by some guy – who, by the way, is eighteen! A legal adult! – and you're telling me to _apologize_ for freaking out about it? What do you think I am? Are you pimping me out to get a second date with this guy?"

"Rika, don't be ridiculous. Ryo didn't mean to touch you. It was an accident. Now don't be childish and move on already."

Rika crossed her arms. "Fine," she said. She wanted to get upset over it, but it hadn't really happened, and she needed to spend her energy on coming up with a new way to ruin Ryo's birthday.

When Akira and Ryo returned, Rika apologized dutifully. But Ryo didn't buy it. Rika didn't care – Akira and Rumiko did. Though she did wonder why Ryo's face was so red. She sat there, perfectly polite. Needless to say, this confused Ryo to great lengths. He couldn't figure her out. Was she going to stop acting so immature? No, probably not. So why had she temporarily given up her hatred of him?

The waiter came and took their orders. Rika didn't even flinch when Ryo ordered, though her stomach growled a bit. "Are you sure you don't want anything, miss?" The waiter seemed insulted.

Rika just shook her head and smiled. It was obviously a false one, and only made Ryo more uneasy. "No, thank you," she said.

Once the waiter had left, Rika turned to face Ryo, and he knew it was time for her little war to start again. Wait – she was _smiling_. Just like she'd smiled at the waiter! "If you'll excuse me, I have to make use of the facilities," she said.

Ryo nodded wordlessly. What else could he do? She sounded like the teacher of an etiquette class now. Did she have multiple personalities or what? Rika left the table.

She was… so weird. Completely unpredictable. Ryo chewed on the ice in his water glass thoughtfully and it squeaked and cracked in his mouth. After a few ice cubes had been swallowed, Akira glanced over at him, looking annoyed.

"Ryo, please," he reprimanded. At least he was finally paying attention to his son on his birthday.

"Sorry, Dad," Ryo said.

Rumiko giggled. "Rika does that all the time! I hate it. I tell her to stop because it'll ruin her teeth, but she still does it anyway." She smiled warmly at Ryo. "I'm sure you two will be the best of friends."

Ryo stared back at her, then smiled a bit. "Me too," he said. _Yes. We can bond over our hobby of chewing ice._ He was kind of starting to doubt that this woman had a brain. He was surprised to hear – er, kind of – his brain sounding so mean. Maybe Rika's bitchiness was rubbing off on him.

Wait – bitchiness? Where had that gone? She returned to the table with a winsome smile, and Rumiko stood up to let her beaming daughter in. "What pleasant restrooms," she said as she scooted in next to Ryo. "You must remember to make use of them at some point."

"You are such a freak," Ryo couldn't help but say. "Who _are_ you anyway?"

Rika just smiled wider. She was a freak? Ha – he was the one who was a completely annoying pervert. Oh wait, she just made up the pervert part. Well, he was still annoying. But she would take her revenge on him. Oh, yes. And it would be sweeter than anything she could have said to him now. She'd have to wait it out, biding her time with a fake smile and her etiquette-class manners. "What a strange question. Why, haven't we been introduced? I surely remember your name, Mr. Akiyama."

Ryo gave her an odd look before gulping down another mouthful of ice water and taking an ice cube in his mouth. He surveyed the restaurant, bored. Suddenly, he heard a sound next to him. It sounded like the squeaking and crunching of ice being chewed…

Sure enough, Rika had a lump of ice jutting out in her cheek. She noticed him looking at her and looked up. Her expression was blank for a moment, then she smiled sweetly, chewing her ice all the while.

She was insane! Ryo couldn't stand it. Was she trying to upstage him with her ice-chewing or something? He was obviously the champion of ice-chewing. He swallowed and got new ice – two cubes this time. He chewed them fiercely, giving Rika a cocky smile. "Two at once," he said once he'd swallowed the remaining shards of splintered ice.

She gave a light shrug of her shoulders, then leaned over to inspect her glass. With one finger as her aid, she slowly counted the ice cubes in her thin layer of remaining water. "One… two… three… four…" she said aloud, making it painfully obvious for his benefit. Then she looked up at him, lifted her glass, and gulped down all the contents of the glass, swallowing the water but leaving the ice to chew.

Ryo watched as she chewed four ice cubes at once. Her cool violet eyes remained on him at all times. He was almost annoyed. She was trying to show him up? He could beat her! Ryo lifted his glass. "Six more ice cubes left," he told her. "Think I can do it?"

She just regarded him, one eyebrow arched. She was silent.

Ryo shrugged, then tilted back his head and let the ice cubes slide into his mouth. His eyes widened as he set the empty glass down on the table. This was harder than it looked… His cheeks bulged with ice and he attempted to chew four at a time quickly so he could make more space for the ice cubes that were basically freezing his cheeks.

His mouth was so cold – Ryo chewed frantically. He couldn't lose! Akira and Rumiko both turned to look at him because he was chewing so loudly, but he didn't care. His eyes began to water. Aggh, it was so damn cold! How did that freak Rika do it? Well, four must be a lot easier than six. He could barely feel his puffed out cheeks anymore.

"Ryo, stop!" Akira demanded.

Ryo couldn't. He chewed and chewed. Finally he'd crunched down two enough to swallow, and the others were quickly melting. But not quickly enough. He set to work on the remaining four, but as soon as he began chewing on the third one, he heard a louder cracking sound in his mouth and one of his teeth seemed to shudder from the impact. Ryo cringed. Oh crap. His tongue felt around on his tooth – one of the molars in the way back – and he realized with horror that it had been _chipped_.

Without thinking, Ryo spat the remaining pieces of ice and the chip of his tooth out all over the table. Akira and Rumiko gasped, one looking angry and the other shocked and disgusted. And Rika?

She just smirked. "Too much for you to handle, Mr. Akiyama?" she said lightly.

"I chipped my tooth," Ryo said.

"_Ryo_! Are you really eighteen or are you just a baby? I told you not to chew your damn ice! And now you spit all over the table?" Akira shook his head.

"Oh, please don't be too angry with him," Rumiko said. "I have a feeling that my daughter was egging him on – a lot. Rika, apologize."

"I wasn't egging him on," Rika said calmly. "I was just showing him how to chew ice."

Rumiko ignored her. "It was revolting, but we can always get a new tablecloth."

Akira sighed and nodded, then called over the waiter.

-x-

"I can't believe nobody cares that I chipped my tooth," Ryo muttered, staring at Akira in disbelief. He was chatting with Rumiko, with no concern for his son's state of dental trauma.

Rika gasped, pretending to be shocked. "Mr. Akiyama, such profanity should not be used in the presence of a lady!"

"I didn't use profanity. What are you talking about?"

"Oh, did you say 'chipped'? I thought you said something else. Something vulgar! It's a little hard to understand you with that chipped tooth of yours."

Ryo sighed. "This birthday sucks."

"At least the food's coming soon," Rika said.

"You're actually right for once," Ryo replied, watching the waiter come towards them with plates of food. "Too bad you won't be having any," he told Rika.

"And neither will you," she murmured as Ryo took a huge bite of his pizza. He chewed it – on the opposite side of his mouth than the chipped molar – and then his eyes grew wide. He gagged and spat out the pizza on the table.

"_Ryo Akiyama_!" Akira nearly yelled. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"They got my order wrong!" Ryo protested. "They gave me… _anchovies and olives_!"

Rika grinned. She'd used the information Ryo had given her earlier – that the toppings were stuffed inside – to exact this revenge. She had gone to the kitchen to change his order.

Akira still looked angry. "It doesn't matter! You need to stop spitting all over the table! Now we have to get another tablecloth!"

A few minutes and a new tablecloth later, Ryo's pizza was being sent back to the kitchen and a new one reordered. He sighed, head buried in his arms. "This sucks," he said. "Don't worry, you guys don't have to wait for me," he said to Akira and Rumiko.

"Too late," Rika pointed out. Ryo looked up to see that the adults were talking, eating, and, as usual, paying no attention to their children.

Ryo collapsed to cover his face again. "Ugh."

Rika glanced at Ryo, then dug in her annoying-but-now-useful purse. She pulled out a red crayon. She'd grabbed it before when she'd excused herself to go to the bathroom but had really perused the restaurant. She'd found a stack of children's menus and crayons to color on them. But the tablecloth was also white, so what was the harm in using that as well?

Rika quickly scribbled a message on the table in her best sloppy-guy handwriting, then set the crayon down beside Ryo and sat back in the booth. Neither Akira nor Rumiko had even noticed Rika's movements.

She relaxed and waited.

-x-

Ryo wanted to fall asleep, but the restaurant was too loud. Instead, he just sat there, hunched over with his hand in his folded arms on the table, eyes closed. He was so hungry he felt weak, and his tongue couldn't help but keep feeling the place where his tooth had chipped.

"Oh look, your pizza's here," Rika said.

Ryo sat up quickly as his stomach growled. The waiter was coming towards them with his pizza. Ryo smiled. The waiter did not.

"Sir, these tablecloths are not paper," the waiter said, annoyed. "They are not meant to be drawn on."

Ryo looked down. _RYO AKIYAMA IS WRITING THIS_, the message in red crayon spelled out. "I didn't do that!" he exclaimed. He gaped at Rika. Had she set him up? Again?

"We'll have to charge you an extra five thousand yen as a cleaning fee," the waiter said solemnly. "Crayon is quite difficult to get out of our imported fabrics."

(a/n: 5000 yen is approximately: 45 US dollars, 30 Euros, 22 pounds, 45 Canadian dollars, and 50 Australian dollars. If you don't live in a place that uses these then you're really cool and I kind of love you. But even if you do live in one of those places. Um anyway.)

"Five thousand yen to clean a tablecloth?" Akira repeated, shocked. He glanced at Rumiko. He couldn't refuse to pay this rather excessive fee in front of her – she'd think he was cheap, even if it was overpriced! So he sighed and nodded. "Very well."

"Mr. Akiyama, your disregard for the cleanliness of the tablecloth is rather upsetting," Rika told him once the pizza had been rudely plopped down and the parents had gone back to eating.

"I… can't believe you! You are such a freak!" Ryo hissed to her, not wanting to get in trouble with his father again. He was also too hungry to spend much time telling Rika how insane she was, so he began wolfing down his pizza.

"You're the one who keeps messing up the tablecloth," she shot back. "I think we need to get you a bib. You're not quite old enough to eat out yet," she added in a patronizing voice.

Ryo just ignored her. He didn't want to waste valuable time talking to her when he could be eating pizza.

Oh, how Rika was happy that he finally shut up.

-x-

"Can we get dessert?" Ryo asked his father. Rika rolled her eyes. The boy had just finished eating his pizza like two minutes ago.

As usual, Akira ignored him. Ryo sighed, then turned to Rika. "Why do our parents hate us? You want dessert, right?"

"No. I told you, I hate Italian food. I can't believe you're going to have more. You're basically exploding from eating that whole twenty-layer pizza in five seconds."

"Hyperbole much?" Ryo replied.

"Fatass much?" Rika shot back.

"Hey! I'm not fat," Ryo pouted.

Rika smirked. It was obvious his soft spot was his vanity. Like when she'd messed up his hair – not that it looked terrible this way. It looked better in waves than it did when it was all standing up with gel. Not that she thought he looked good or anything. "I said you were a fatass, not that you're fat. But you're fat too."

"How am I fat? I only weigh – "

"Ugh, you're such an idiot. I don't mean physically fat. I mean _actual_ fat. Come on, old man. Don't you even understand the way kids talk anymore? Actual fat, as in you eat too much too fast and then want more. I don't mean that you're overweight."

"Oh. Well okay, I can live with that." Ryo shrugged.

Rika rolled her eyes.

"So if I'm a fatass, then you're anorexic," he said. "Since you didn't have anything to eat."

She was so sick of him. "I wish you didn't have anything to _say_."

"Hey, what happened to the polite Miss Manners?" Ryo teased. Not that he missed her. He liked this Rika better. At least she didn't unnerve him so much. He knew she was going to be bitchy – there were no surprises. And things bothered her when she was like this.

Come to think of it, it was kind of fun to bother her. A lot of fun, actually.

"It's _Ms._ Manners, thank you. And she died from seeing you stuff your face with greasy pizza. It was too much for her to handle."

"And that killed her?"

"Yup."

"How? Did she have a heart attack from shock?"

"No."

"Then how did she die?"

"The scene was so horrifying that she took her own life."

Ryo blinked. "Oh. Wonderful. To add to all your other lovely features, you also have a warped mind."

"Better than having a stupid one."

"Do you have a retort to everything?"

"Yes," Rika replied.

Ryo waited, but she didn't say anything. "Are you going to retort to that one?" he finally asked.

"No."

"So you don't have one for everything?"

"I do, but they would be wasted on someone like you." Rika crossed her arms. "Why are you still talking? Let's get some more food so you can shut up already."

As if on cue, the waiter appeared. "Would you like to see the dessert menus?" They nodded and he left four menus, taking their empty plates with him.

"How did you do that?" Ryo hissed at Rika, amazed.

"Do what?"

"Know that the waiter was coming? It's like you know exactly when they're about to get here. How do you know?"

"I have eyes, stupid." Rika grabbed one of the menus and held it open in front of her. She read through it like she was utterly fascinated. Anything to make him shut up.

"They're purple."

"Mmhmm. Read your menu, Akiyama."

"No more mister?"

"Do I have to go through the whole sordid suicide story again? Seriously, keep up."

"Okay. But you have purple eyes."

"Yes. Yes I do." Rika turned the page of her menu. Why did the restaurant have so many desserts? Or maybe their Italian names were just so long they took up a lot of space. Romanized letters tended to do that. Rika didn't know what half these things were.

"Are they real?"

Rika snorted and looked at Ryo. "Akiyama, really. We all know you're stupid, but this is actually rather shocking. Nobody ever knew you were this much of an idiot."

"Is that a yes or a no?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Of course they're real. Do you think they're the googly eyes you used to make stupid little animals in elementary school? Where do you buy fake eyeballs, Akiyama?"

"I meant the color. Do you wear colored contacts?"

"Do I look like the kind of girl to wear contacts for a… _cosmetic_ reason?" She glanced down at herself. "Okay. Well. Maybe in this outfit. But this is not what I normally wear."

"Okay. That's all I wanted to know." He picked up his menu.

"Good. Read."

A few seconds later, his head popped up from the menu again. "I'm sorry, but purple eyes? Do you have any idea how weird that is?"

"You have blue eyes."

"Yeah, I have different coloration because my mom was American. But blue eyes are definitely not as weird as purple ones."

"Akiyama. Shut. Up."

"I'm just saying. Hey, are you allowed to get a dessert even though you didn't have any dinner?"

Rika actually wasn't ever allowed to have dessert, but she didn't care. She always did when she was out with her friends at a restaurant anyway. "Of course. You aren't?"

"I don't know."

"Right, cause you'd never skip a meal."

"Rika, Ryo, what would you two like for dessert?" Akira asked. Wow – that was a first! Their parents were actually looking at them for the first time that night.

"I'm actually still not hungry," Rika said, closing the menu. Rumiko nodded at her. That was what Rumiko always said, and what she'd told Rika to say. Her mother must have thought she was doing it to be obedient to her, but it was really just to reject anything related to Ryo, and that included Italian food and this whole dinner in general.

"Guess it's just going to be us guys having dessert, huh?" Akira asked. "Ryo, it's your birthday. What do you want?"

"Umm… Maybe tiramisu."

"Sounds perfect!" Ryo's father closed the menu. But before the waiter could come back over to take their orders, the lights in the restaurant dimmed. The violinist and a group of waiters appeared before their table. The leading waiter had a chocolate cake in her hands, and she laid it down on the table before Ryo. It had a big pink candle in the shape of the number 13.

Ryo's eyes widened as he saw what was going on. Oh god oh god oh god.

"Happy 13th birthday to you…" the chorus of waiters started. The violinist played along to the tune of the song.

Ryo looked around the table, aghast. He looked to his father first. Akira must have known how he hated things like this. It was one of the only things he knew about him. The man's face was surprised. Rumiko was smiling. And Rika was belting out the song along with the waiters and other people in the restaurant, an evil grin on her face.

She leaned forward to coo something into his ear: "Public humiliation is a bitch, isn't it Akiyama?"

He kind of wanted to kill her right now.

-x-

**End of Chapter Four: The Birthday from Hell/Public Humiliation part 2**

-x-

How'd you like it? This chapter was a lot longer than the last one, huh? And hopefully more interesting… If you want to see more of the lovely Ryuki relationship, please _**REVIEW!!**_

Thank you for reading!


	5. Attack of the Super Flame Bots

Hey everyone! Sorry I've been gone so long. I recently started college, and it's been kind of difficult to work on my fics. But I'll try and update more often. ^^

Thank you so much to **SpookyButt, Walks In The Shadows, katy007, anon, rika4life, Depthmon, Rainbow35, **and** xladykittyx** for reviewing the last chapter. I hope you like this next one!

By the way, I haven't mentioned one thing yet. Although it says 'ryuki' in the title, this does not necessarily mean that there will be a Ryuki pairing in this fic. The two main characters are Rika and Ryo (as I'm sure you've noticed! xD), and the story is about their relationship and other stuff. Not necessarily a romantic one. Just wanted to let you guys know. ^^

Onto the fic!

-x-

**Chapter Five: Attack of the Super Flame Bots**

-x-

Jeri answered on the first ring.

"Oh my god Rika. You should have been there last night!"

This did not improve Rika's mood. "Ugh, I know."

"No you don't! Henry was asking all about you! I think he likes you!"

Rika couldn't help but feel pleased, though she was still confused. And suspicious. Jeri saw romance in all the wrong places sometimes. Like that whole thing about Kazu and Kenta's hopeless love for each other. "Jeri, what could he ask about me anyway? We're practically best friends. He's, like, right in line after you. Am I really that much of a mystery?"

"Well, he was asking where you were. Don't worry, I didn't tell him about the whole crazy speed-dating thing. Though he would probably have admired you for looking after your mom. Anyway, then he asked what you wanted for Christmas."

"It's October."

"He's going to China with his family in a few weeks, and he wants to buy you something there! Ooh, this is so exciting. We can double date!"

Rika sighed. "I doubt he likes me. He probably only asked cause I wasn't there."

"Fine!" Jeri sighed, sounding impatient. "I'll just have to make Takato talk to him about you then!"

"Takato doesn't know, does he?" Rika asked, feeling her cheeks redden. Ugh. She wished she didn't sound like such a stereotypical girl right now. She would have thrown up, but she didn't have anything in her stomach due to her fasting last night.

"That you're totally in love with Henry? No, he doesn't."

"Jeri! I am not!" Rika argued. "I just think he's less annoying than the average guy."

"And that he's hot."

"I don't think he's hot. I think you're crazy!"

"_Sure_, Rika. Hey, let's meet at Takato's at four today?"

"Yeah!" Rika said a bit too enthusiastically. Was she losing her cool? She needed to focus. Not on Henry. But on… other things. Anything else besides him.

"I'll tell my boyfriend to interrogate Henry about you!" Jeri squealed. "We can double date! We can double date! Bye!" With that, she hung up.

Rika sighed and snapped her phone closed. Jeri was her best friend, but sometimes she was exhausting. And embarrassing. And far too girly for Rika's taste.

And… of course, kind of insane too. She was always trying to set up Rika and Henry. It wasn't going to happen, and Rika kept telling her that. But Jeri wouldn't take no for an answer. Ugh. Jeri just wanted them together so much.

Rika wouldn't even admit to herself that she wanted the same thing Jeri did…

-x-

"Mom, I'm going out," Rika called to her mother a few hours later.

"Where are you going?"

"Takato's." Rika sat down by the door and pulled on her huge shoes, bought from the men's section. Nice.

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know."

"When will you be back?"

"I don't know."

"Oh… Okay, Rika. Have fun," Rumiko said, sounding a bit sad. After what she thought of as a bonding experience – last night at speed dating and dinner – she hoped she and Rika would be best friends by now and would talk all the time and braid each other's hair and whatnot.

Well, maybe if she hadn't ignored her daughter the whole time they would be a bit closer. But Rumiko was kind of oblivious to this. She was also still swooning over Akira and his promise at the end of the night that he would call her. Rumiko was sitting around the house waiting for his call. She'd even cancelled her shoot today, claiming she had laryngitis and wasn't able to model.

Rika thought her mom was an idiot, or at least didn't know much about faking sickness. She also found it gross that Rumiko was waiting around for Akira. What happened to her impassioned and fiery who-needs-men speeches? It seemed one date with Akira had extinguished them. The one part of Rumiko that Rika actually respected was gone. Wonderful.

It was a short walk to Takato's, one she knew well. And if she ever forgot how to get there, she could always follow the smell of bread to the bakery below his apartment, run by his parents.

Once she left her huge-house neighborhood and entered into a normal one with apartment-dwellers, she felt more at ease. She always felt conspicuous that she lived in her huge house. Sure, she loved it, but it was so big for just three people. And nobody else she knew lived in a house. They were just too expensive except for the elite.

She reached the bakery and opened the glass door, the bell above it jingling. Working at the counter was Takato's mother, which meant his father was taking a break. She didn't look too happy about that, though she smiled when she saw Rika. "Hello, dear. Here to join the rest of the gang?"

Rika nodded, smiling and giving a slight bow. "Yeah," she said. "Are they all upstairs?"

"In Takato's room, yes. Why don't you go on up?"

"Okay," Rika said. She passed the counter and headed into the back of the shop, where the stairs to Takato's apartment were. Rika bent down to remove her shoes.

"Oh, but take this," Takato's mother said, handing her a piece of bread. "It's a new sweetbread recipe. Tell me what you think later! I'm trying it out on all of Takato's friends."

Rika smiled and took the bread. "Thank you," she said and headed upstairs.

Takato, Jeri, and Henry were already there. She was the last one – hopefully. There were two annoying cling-ons that she was hoping wouldn't be coming today.

"Rika!" Jeri exclaimed happily. Rika's girly best friend was almost so cute it hurt her eyes. She had shiny brown hair that she was currently growing out and warm golden eyes. Jeri was one of the nicest people Rika had ever met, and she always felt like such a bitch – make that an uncute bitch – compared to her. Rika's best friend wore a pink dress with purple hearts all over it, purple kneesocks, and pink flats. She always matched and always looked like an example of the kind of daughter Rumiko wanted.

"Hey," Rika said, sprawling on the floor beside Henry. Takato and Jeri had snagged the chairs already.

"Hey, Rika," came Henry's voice next to her. She turned to smile at him. Henry was all mixed colors in a palette, as if none of the standard kinds could quite paint him: blue-black hair and pale grey-green eyes that shone when he was excited. He had a unique sense of fashion, usually wearing one of his neon-colored vests or something vintage. Henry was also the nerd of the group: he knew everything about computers. But unlike the typical computer geek, he was well-liked by almost everyone. One of the reasons he was so nice was because he had a younger sister who constantly needed attention and babysitting. He also had a really nice smile… No, no he didn't, Rika assured herself quickly.

"So can we decide what we're doing now?" Takato asked. He was a few inches shorter than Henry, with light brown hair and strange maroon-colored eyes. Ha. Purple eyes weren't that horrendously weird, now were they? Stupid Ryo. When Rika first met Takato, he was quite possibly the most awkward person in the world. But now he'd grown up a little bit and had become… almost cool. He was still the same little boyish Takato deep down, but he had seemed to mature a little – not just physically. He was an amazing artist and was just an overall nice guy. He wore generic clothing: jeans and t-shirts and hoodies.

"What do you want to do, honey?" Jeri asked.

Rika made a face. Gross.

"Let's go see a movie!" Takato enthused. "That new action one with giant robots who breathe fire!"

Jeri sighed. "No way! What about that one about the two lovers who are separated and have to find each other again? It looks so romantic…"

"I'll go for any comedy, mystery, or adventure movie that doesn't have too much romance or giant robots," Henry said.

Rika nodded. "Agreed. But make it no romance at all."

"But I told Kazu and Kenta we were seeing _Attack of the Super Flame Bots_," Takato brought up.

Jeri blinked. "They're coming too?" Her double date fantasy was shattered. Unless it was a triple date, and Kazu and Kenta suddenly fell madly in love… But even then, they'd ruin it for everyone else. Somehow.

"Yeah. Is that okay, sweetheart?"

"I guess so," Jeri sighed. "_Attack of the Super Flame Bots_, huh?" Takato nodded. "Well… okay. As long as the next movie we see is a romantic one!"

"I don't want to see _Attack of the Super _Lame_ Bots_," Rika argued, with a face at her terrible attempt at a sort-of joke.

"Rika, you are my best friend," Jeri said. "Therefore, it's your duty to come with me to see this movie. Are you really going to leave me in that theater with Kazu and Kenta and my small-bladdered boyfriend?"

Takato's face turned red. "Jeri!"

"Look, you have to pee a lot. Get over it. So he'll leave me alone with Kazu and Kenta at some horrible point. Rika, come on."

Rika sighed. "Okay, fine. But only if Henry comes too, because you guys are going to be making out the whole time and I don't want to be alone with Kazu and Kenta either."

Henry nodded. "Yeah, okay. The previews didn't look that bad, actually."

"Awesome! I'll call them and say we'll meet them at the theater," Takato said.

-x-

"It's kind of cold," Henry observed. He and Rika were walking behind Jeri and Takato, whose arms were around each other as they cooed sweet nothings. What else was new?

"You hinting we should get all close like those two?" Rika smirked.

Henry flashed a grin. "I _do_ love body heat."

Cue awkward silence – like Rika could think straight after a comment like that. Not that she was thinking anything about Henry and… erm, anyway.

She didn't even notice him sidling up closer to her. He draped an arm casually over her shoulders. It was an odd feeling. She hated when people touched her; it made her feel uncomfortable. But this was different. And it was, in fact, quite warm…

"Where were you last night?" Henry asked. His voice could be softer now that they were so close. It might have been the closest they'd ever been. Rika could barely breathe. But that was just from the cold, or something.

'Or something' indeed.

"Um… just with my mom," Rika answered. Oh god. Was she going to have to tell the whole horrible story? No, Henry would think she was insane. Maybe she was. Around Henry, she felt like the girl from last night was completely crazy. What did that Akiyama kid do to her again? Oh, right. He laughed at her glare. Wait – she was glaring at him in the first place, so he had to have provoked her before then. But the funny thing was she had no idea why.

"Yeah? Doing what?"

Why was he so curious? "Having dinner," Rika replied.

Suddenly, it hit her – how strange this was. Henry had his arm around her? Rika, where the hell are you? She shrugged his arm off her shoulders, trying to pretend that she didn't miss it there. The cold air blew against the back of her neck mercilessly and it stung. "Don't go getting so close to me, Wong," she warned him. "Or else my fists and I might have to teach you a lesson or two."

She was probably confusing the hell out of him. One moment she wanted him close to her, the next she remembered that all guys were scum and that she didn't buy into this whole love thing. She didn't even know what was going on; how could he?

They arrived at the theater, but Kazu and Kenta were nowhere to be seen. "They're probably just running late as usual," Takato said. "Let's get our tickets." He paid for his and Jeri's, and then Rika stepped up to buy hers.

Jeri intervened – never a good thing. "Rika! I forgot that you forgot your wallet at home!" she cried. "Now I guess Henry will just have to pay for you."

Rika sent her friend a quick glare. "What are you talking about? I have it right here."

"Oh, I guess you do! Haha! But you look young for your age. Nobody's gonna think you're seventeen, so you can't get in unless someone else buys your ticket. Henry here looks old enough!"

"The movie's not rated R. It's PG-13." Jeri was just embarrassing everyone, including herself. But mostly Rika. And that pissed her off. But Jeri was the one person she always tried to be her nicest to. It was like she couldn't be mad at her for some reason. Maybe because she knew what a good person she was, and being mad at Jeri was a little like kicking a sick three-legged puppy while wearing steel-toed boots. "It's fine, really," Rika said. "I'll pay for my own ticket. Mom gave me tons of spending money lately."

Even if she and Henry _had_ been going as a date – not that they ever would, and Rika didn't even want to! – she wouldn't want him to pay for her. That was so old-fashioned and sexist. But it wasn't like the thought of them going on a date had ever occurred to her before or anything. Henry was just a friend, and she didn't think of him as anything more.

Duh.

The group of four headed inside, bought food, and found their theater.

Now came the slightly awkward process of choosing seats. It was easier since there were only four of them, and Takato and Jeri were obviously going to sit together. Jeri begged Rika to sit next to her, and Henry sat on Rika's other side without having to be begged.

Takato and Henry went to find Kazu and Kenta while the girls stayed there. Jeri turned to face Rika with a big grin. "Henry totally loves you," she cried. "I bet you two are going to hook up during this movie. Not even Kazu and Kenta can mess _this_ up."

Rika shook her head. "Jeri, come on. If Henry made a move on me, I'd kick his ass. I don't like him, and I don't like it when guys try stuff on me."

Jeri rolled her eyes. "Rika, stop lying to the world. You like Henry."

Rika opened her mouth to protest. She _didn't_ like Henry! That was the stupidest thing she'd ever heard, and she would have told Jeri that, if she hadn't been Jeri.

But her outgoing best friend didn't even let her argue. "Rika. Just think about this during the movie. Ask yourself what it feels like to be next to him and things like that. I think by the end you'll see that I'm right."

"All guys are dicks," Rika said. "Even nice guys like Takato and Henry can't be trusted."

Jeri frowned. She looked like she was going to cry. "Rika, don't say something like that about my boyfriend! I love him, and you don't know him like I do! I can trust him!"

"Sorry," Rika said quickly. "I didn't mean – "

"I know you have your whole hatred of guys thing, but not all guys are horrible like you say they are. Takato and Henry are exceptions. Kazu and Kenta aren't – well, maybe Kenta, but Kazu leads him to do guy-like things."

Rika just couldn't believe that. But she nodded to humor her friend. "Okay," she said, then hesitated. "I'll ask myself all those questions and whatever." Even though it sounded like the biggest waste of time since math homework.

Jeri clapped her hands. "Yay! Okay, shh! Here they come now!"

Rika turned around to see Henry, Takato, Kazu, and Kenta heading over. "We found them!" Takato announced.

Wait. Who was that behind Kenta?

It was a tall boy, his hair spiked with gel, with deep blue eyes.

"You've _got_ to be kidding me," Rika spat. She jumped up.

Ryo was as surprised to see her as she was to see him. "Wha? You?" He didn't think that she really _had_ friends. When Kazu and Kenta, his old friends from before he moved, invited him to come see a movie with them and some other friends, Rika was the last person he expected to see there.

"Hey, you guys know each other?" Kazu asked.

"Isn't Ryo just the _coolest_?" Kenta drawled.

"Actually, _Akiyama_ here is a sleazy, sex-obsessed loser who likes to grope underage girls at the dinner table with their mothers present," Rika retorted. "I have no idea what the hell he's doing here, but if he's staying, then I'm leaving."

"Rika!" Jeri protested. "Best friends don't leave each other!"

"You're underage?" Ryo asked.

"You groped _Rika_?" Kazu gasped. "You are so cool!"

"What the hell does that mean?" Rika demanded. "And _yes_, I'm underage. We've been over this! Like twenty times!"

"But I'm only thirteen, right?" Ryo asked with a smirk.

"Oh, shut up!"

"What's going on?" Henry asked.

"Rika, did he really… _violate_ you?" Jeri asked, shocked.

"She wishes," Ryo said, then sat down in the chair next to Rika. "But hey, here we are in this dark movie theater together. Who knows what'll happen?"

"That's my seat, actually," Henry said.

Rika crossed her arms. "First of all, the usage of the word 'violate' means that I don't _want_ you doing it. So it makes no sense to say that I wished you'd violate me! Second, you seem to have forgotten last night and the birthday from hell; and third, shut the hell up and leave me alone!"

Ryo shrugged, getting up and heading back into the aisle. "I get over stuff easily. I guess you don't."

"How do you two know each other? Please?" Jeri asked.

"Did he really, like, molest you?" Henry asked.

Ryo shook his head. "Trust me, she's not my type."

"You mean easy?" Rika snapped.

"No, sane."

"You are the most infuriating idiot I have ever met!" Rika cried.

Ryo frowned. "Are you serious? You're the one who threw food in my hair. You're the one who called me a groper and who ruined my pizza and who ruined all the tablecloths and made my dad pay for it all!"

"Don't forget completely kicked your ass at ice-chewing and chipped your tooth."

"What did I do to you? I got food in the buffet line after you and I laughed when you made a face."

"You were hitting on me, and you deserved the plate of food on your head for laughing at me!"

"Should we leave them alone?" Kenta asked, worried.

"Yeah, get a room, you guys," Kazu snorted.

"Shut up!" Rika snapped.

"Nice way to treat your friends," Ryo said.

"He's not even my friend. He's a dumbass like you."

Kazu shrugged. Rika had told him that many times before.

"I meant to ask you – how do you even _make_ friends?" Ryo asked. He'd basically stopped hating Rika when he woke up in the morning, but she was continuing this stupid fight.

"Like you should be asking that question! You're the one who goes with your dad to speed dating on your birthday!" All of Rika's previous anger was, of course, back.

"Hey, stop!" Henry finally exclaimed. The two combatants looked at him, startled. "Both of you just calm down. Whatever happened is in the past now, so can you just move on with your lives and let us watch the movie in peace?"

"There's still like five minutes before it even starts," Rika said.

"But the previews are going to be the only bearable part," Henry said, and Rika couldn't argue with him there.

"Come on, guys," Takato said. "Let's just all… get along!" This earned a kiss from Jeri and a glare from Rika, but they all seemed to obey him anyway.

Kazu, Kenta, and Ryo went to sit in the row behind the other four, and Rika crossed her arms, slouching low in her chair. Wonderful. Why couldn't he just get out of her life already? Of _course _Kazu would be best friends with him.

"You okay?" Henry asked her.

Rika nodded. "It's a long story," she said.

Jeri leaned over. "Tell us!" she cried.

"Not now," Rika said. "Later, okay?" Jeri pouted, but nodded. Then she predictably went back to Takato to be part of their lovey dovey couple.

"But he didn't really do anything, erm, inappropriate to you, right?" Henry asked.

Rika rolled her eyes. "Wong, do you really think he'd still be alive if he had?"

Henry smiled and nodded, satisfied. Rika wondered why he cared so much about it – well, he _was_ her friend. And friends did care about these kinds of things. But there seemed to be more than that there…

Maybe she'd try that questioning-herself thing Jeri mentioned after all…

-x-

Ryo couldn't believe Kazu and Kenta were friends with _her_. They were cool, if a little bit sycophantic. But she was just crazy. Maybe they were only friends with the dark-haired boy Rika was with, and maybe that was her boyfriend so he had to tow her along everywhere. Ryo watched them carefully. The couple next to them were all over each other, hugging and giggling to themselves. Rika and the dark-haired boy were talking, but weren't so expressive. Though Ryo didn't expect her to be the touchy feely type anyway.

"Ryo, dude, are you checking out Rika or something?" Kazu asked. Thankfully he kept his voice down.

"What? No way," Ryo said quickly. He realized what he must look like. He was staring at her and the dark-haired boy, but not for the reason Kazu thought.

"Good, cause you should _not_ go for her. She's a complete ice queen. I mean, sure she's hot, but she's like the girl from a guy's nightmare. Even if you were _married_ to her you wouldn't get any action. Not like husbands usually get anything from their wives, but still."

Ryo nodded, though he was starting to think Kazu might be a little less cool than he thought. What was he, an old married man?

"I used to have a crush on her," Kenta confessed, whispering. "Just for a little while after I saw this porno with a dominatrix."

"But he's too much of a baby for that kind of thing anyway," Kazu snorted.

These guys had certainly changed. They used to think sex was gross, but now puberty had hit and they were watching porn? Ryo didn't even watch porn. He'd actually seen it once, but it was stupid and didn't turn him on like it was supposed to. He didn't understand the male gender's fascination with it. Fake boobs and girls making out? Definitely not his thing.

"If you want us to hook you up with anyone, just let us know," Kazu continued.

"We're matchmakers!" Kenta exclaimed. "Not that it'd be hard to set you up with someone, Ryo. You're so cool the girls are gonna be all over you."

"Oh, I doubt it," Ryo laughed.

"You'll see on Monday," Kazu said. Though, if Ryo recalled, Kazu and Kenta went to the public school. Ryo would be going to a private one…

The boy who seemed surgically attached to the other girl turned around to face them. "Hey, is this movie gonna be awesome or what?"

"Giant robots and scantily-clad chicks? Nice!" Kazu replied, pumping his fist into the air.

Takato's girlfriend didn't look very happy about this. "Takato…"

"Don't worry, Jeri. If there's any part you don't want me to watch, just tell me to look down," Takato said.

"Aw, how sweet," Kazu chortled. "Hey, Jeri, don't you know how rude you've been? You haven't even introduced yourself to Ryo here!"

Her eyes widened. "Oh! I'm so sorry… I just… the whole thing that Rika said… but since it's not true…" She took a deep breath, smiling at Ryo. "I'm Jeri. Pleased to meet you."

Ryo nodded at her with a grin. "You too… I'm Ryo. As Kazu already said."

"Ryo, what's your favorite kind of candy?" Kenta asked.

"Umm…" Ryo blinked at the random question. "Anything sour… I guess?"

"Cool!" Kenta exclaimed. "Me too!"

Kazu rolled his eyes. "Kenta, you hate sour candy. It makes you cry."

"Hey! Shut up!"

"Ryo, what's your favorite place to go?" Kazu asked.

Why were they asking him such weird questions? "Um… I don't know. I like the beach."

"Me too!" Kazu cheered.

Ah. Were they trying to be like him or something? Ryo couldn't help but smirk. He had no idea why these guys idolized him so much, but it was funny. They probably had the biggest crushes straight guys could have on other guys.

"Shut up, guys! They movie's starting!" Takato hissed at them.

"Well, this is gonna suck," Ryo heard Rika tell Henry.

-x-

Halfway into the movie, Rika was quite proud that she'd been able to predict its quality so well.

One of the robots had just cut off someone's head, and there was about a ten-minute shot of his blood spurting out and flying around. Some of it splattered on the camera.

"I swear if this keeps going on I'm going to hunt down the writer and do this to them," Rika muttered to Henry.

"Yeah, this sucks," he replied. "Oh, Takato… Why am I your best friend again?" He glanced over to see Takato watching, enraptured. Jeri was hidden in his armpit, one eye peeking out, squeaking every time anything moved.

Kazu and Kenta were equally as interested at Takato. Ryo, however, was extremely bored. The plot was terrible – he wasn't sure if there was one, actually. The costumes were either highly confusing and strange or way too tight and revealing. And none of the characters were likeable at all. Popcorn was his only solace.

He found a fun way of passing the time when he glanced down at Rika. She was leaning back in her chair, her completely unfeminine shoes on the seat in front of her. Her hair was up in a messy bun – the way she always wore it, though he didn't know that. It almost formed a kind of platform…

Ryo decided to test it. He grinned and grabbed a handful of popcorn. Then he threw the first one, aiming at Rika's head. It hit just above the little hair-platform and bounced off, but it was so light she didn't feel it. He threw another one, but this was too low. He tried again and it landed in the perfect spot! Rika was now wearing a piece of popcorn in her hair. Ryo glanced at Kazu and Kenta to see if they noticed it, but they had no idea about anything that was going on except in the movie.

Ryo threw more popcorn.

-x-

Henry yawned.

"Don't even think about putting your arm around me," Rika said automatically.

"Don't worry," he replied. "I yawned simply because this movie makes me want to go to sleep. Ugh, this is so boring."

"Agreed. Let's never, ever let Takato, Kazu, or Kenta pick the movie again?"

"Never ever again," Henry said.

_Okay,_ Rika told herself. _Just… do what Jeri said. Think about what it's like to sit next to him._ Well, it made her feel kind of happy. Now that Jeri and Takato were inseparable, Henry was always her closest companion at group outings. She knew that if he was there, she'd have a good time. And… she wanted to continue their conversation. It wasn't just that the movie sucked. It was… ugh, she didn't know. What she did know, though, was that the arm on her right was much warmer than that on her left. Henry was to her right. Did that mean… Could she possibly –

Suddenly, a piece of popcorn flew past Rika's head, interrupting her rumination. "What the hell?" she asked, turning around in her seat.

Ryo's eyes were wide. "Oops," he said.

"Did you throw that at me?" Rika demanded.

Ryo shrugged. "I dunno."

"Shut up! I can't believe this. Leave me the hell alone, you freak!"

"Shh!" someone called from across the aisle.

Rika scowled. She _hated_ it when people shushed her. "No freaking way I'm going to shh!" she yelled.

"Calm down," Ryo said coolly. God, she was annoying.

"Hell no! I'm not taking orders from _you_ of all people."

"Shh!" came another person.

"Rika! Come on," Takato said.

"Yeah, if you don't shut up I'll get you kicked out!" some man yelled. "I swear, one more word to interrupt this movie – "

"This movie sucks anyway," Rika said.

"One more word and I'll get the usher to kick you brats out!"

"Rika… please?" came Jeri's voice. Of course, Rika's weakness was her easily-upset best friend.

"Fine. Leave me alone, Akiyama." She turned around in her chair, crossing her arms again and glaring at the movie screen. "Asshole," she muttered.

Ryo had caught the last word. With a cool expression he took the top off his drink and calmly dumped it over Rika's head.

A million thoughts went flying through his head in the one second it took to pour his soda all over her. First, he couldn't help but wonder what the hell he was doing. Was he trying to get himself killed? Then he realized he didn't really care. Rika had done much worse things to him last night anyway. Which reminded him – this wasn't a very original thing to do. She'd just recently done it with her food on his head. Damn.

A split second after he'd tipped over his drink, Rika realized what was going on.

"AGGHHHHHHH!"

-x-

"Look on the bright side. It was a horrible movie anyway," Henry told Rika. They'd been kicked out of the theater and were standing on the sidewalk outside.

But there was no bright side for her. Strands of hair stuck to her forehead. "I am going to _kill_ you!" she screamed at Ryo.

Takato and Henry stood awkwardly by, while Jeri tried to act like a good friend. Kazu and Kenta snickered at the sight of Rika. And Ryo just looked calm, as if he couldn't really believe he'd just done that but wasn't going to regret it now.

"Rika, why don't we go back to my house and wash your hair?" Jeri offered. "My place is the closest."

Rika wasn't even listening. "Akiyama, you think this is funny?"

Ryo shrugged. "Actually, I'm not laughing. But now that you mention it…"

"_Shut up!_" Her hands rolled into fists and she stepped towards him, glaring.

"Calm down, Rika," Henry said. He made a move towards her and put his hand on her shoulder as if to restrain her. She looked like she could do some serious damage to Ryo right now.

"Calm _down_? This idiot just poured a drink over my head and you're telling me to calm _down_?"

"Hey, you seemed into the whole an-eye-for-an-eye thing yesterday," Ryo reminded her. "We've already done the public humiliation bit, and now we're onto the something over the head part."

"I'll show you something over the head!" Rika growled. Quick as lightning, she leapt forward and shot a punch at him. It landed squarely in his jaw, and his eyes widened.

"_Rika_!" came the voices of Jeri, Henry, and Takato.

"Dude! You gonna take that?" Kazu asked. Kenta just stared with open eyes.

Ryo shook his head as Rika regarded him, her fists still up. He felt his jaw, then offered her a small smirk. "Rika, please. That was nowhere near being over my head. You have to work on your aim, or at least your comebacks."

"It wasn't a comeback, you idiot," she argued. "Besides, that was all you gave me to work with!"

"Rika, stop!" Takato exclaimed.

"Come on, Rika," Henry said again, coming towards her. "You shouldn't use violence just because you're upset…"

Trust him to be the freaking pacifist even when her head was covered in quickly drying soda! "You're right, Henry," she said. "I should only use violence when I'm absolutely _livid_, and my mood now would fit that description!" Another glare at Ryo. "You gonna fight back, Akiyama?" she demanded.

"I'm not going to fight a girl," Ryo replied.

"Ew!" Rika made a disgusted expression. "Don't think of me as a girl, you pervert!" She pulled back her fist and threw it at him. He didn't even move out of the way. Her fist connected with his face, somewhere between his eye and his temple.

-x-

"Hey, Dad," Ryo said as he entered his apartment and saw Akira sitting there at his laptop, typing away furiously. "Working hard?"

"Hardly working," Akira chuckled. Ryo tilted his head at his father, staring at him. Did Akira just… smile? And make a joke (however cliché it may be)? Okay, that was strange.

"What are you doing?" Ryo asked, confused.

"Nosy!" Akira accused. "Nothing…"

His dad had smiled and now he was talking in incomplete sentences. Ryo's mouth suddenly fell open. Akira wasn't even wearing a tie! What was going on with his life? Was the world out of balance? Was it the beginning of the apocalypse? Maybe it was just a bad copy of Akira, and the real one was still at the office. That seemed about right. The real Akira wouldn't come home on time and smile and not wear a tie, the real one would stay late and Ryo wouldn't even see him until the next morning for a split second.

"Looking at porn?" Ryo asked. Better see if it was the real thing or not.

"_Ryo Akiyama_!"

Eh, guess he was just having a weird day. It was certainly Akira. "Just kidding, Dad," Ryo said quickly. "But what _are_ you doing?"

The foolish smile spread across Akira's face again. "I love computers. Have you heard of something called instant messaging?"

Ryo blinked. Rhetorical question much? "Dad, come on now. Can this please not be a repeat of the 'watch me write an email' conversation?"

"That was when you were nine years old," Akira said gruffly.

Ryo shrugged. "It was still embarrassing for both of us."

"Fine, fine. You _know_ what instant messaging is, and your poor old father is still stuck back in the Stone Age."

"Aw, I wouldn't say that. Maybe just the Bronze Age. Who are you IMing?"

"Rumiko…" drawled Akira. His eyes practically turned into hearts. It was gross, but kind of cute in an old person way. Except for the crazy daughter of course.

Ryo wasn't sure how to feel about this. But he wasn't thinking quite clearly right now. He was kind of still seeing stars. "Uh, cool. I'm going to my room, Dad."

"All right."

"Oh wait, do we have any steak?"

"Yes. In the freezer."

"Okay." Ryo walked towards the kitchen.

"Ryo, wait."

He looked back. "Yeah, Dad?"

"First of all, what does 'LOL' mean? Does that still mean little old lady?"

"Uh, no? It means laughing out loud. Or lots of love."

"Thanks. And second, how'd you get a black eye?"

Ryo stared at him. Way to notice and/or care! Akira had to be the strangest person in the world. Or maybe this was just a result of Rumiko? It must be love…

And that was not good. Not at all.

-x-

**End of Chapter Five: Attack of the Super Flame Bots**

-x-

Hope you liked it! Please **_REVIEW!!!_**


	6. School Days

Hey everyone! ^^ How have your holidays been going so far? I hope everyone's having a good time… To those who get gifts for any holiday so far (xD), what'd you guys get? Anything amazing like an elephant or space ship? Erm… yes, they were definitely on my Christmas list. o-o;

Moving on… xD

Thank you to all the reviewers of the last chapter: **Rainbow35, anon, xladykittyx, Depthmon, alamodie, missy, rika4life,** and **Squit Ayumin**. Did I mention you guys are really cool? 8D

Haha yes LOL=little old lady. Apparently? My dad likes to make fun of chatspeak, and one time at my grandparents' house he kept saying "LOL! LOL!" and my grandpa just turns to him and is like… "LITTLE OLD LADY??" and it was a lot funnier than it is typed. xD;

Specific thingers:

**anon:** Well, I don't know for sure the romantic couple things yet… I just love the Ryuki relationship in general.

**alamodie:** I was re-reading it and you're totally right. xD; He's so far just kind of whipped but likes flamebots… o-o; Whatever those are. xD And it does say AU in the summary, but do you mean in each individual chapter?

WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, here is the chapter. 8D

-x-

**Chapter Six: School Days**

-x-

Great. It was his first day at his new school and he had a black eye.

It was actually more of a dark green shade now, but that was a bit more disgusting than calling it a regular black eye. He could barely see through his swollen eyelids, but he didn't know what to do about that. He attempted to use concealer to hide his bruise, but it didn't work very well. His skin just looked kind of pasty and gross.

Ryo sighed. He was just lucky that Rika's friends had dragged her off of him after she'd punched him for the second time. He might have something much worse than this if they hadn't.

She was certainly insane, and if Ryo hadn't gotten something like a concussion, he would have made her sorry. But seeing how he was in utter pain and couldn't really see much through his pulsing eye, he'd simply found his way home after she'd pummeled him. Obviously, Rika Nonaka was not a force to be reckoned with. And she was also not a stable person. Ryo realized he'd have to tell his dad about this so Akira would break off this whole thing with Rumiko. He'd been too out of it yesterday, but now that he could think again he would tell his dad the next time he saw him. Unfortunately, he'd already left for work before Ryo had even woken up.

His dark blue gakuran uniform was not very attractive, but he knew that at least he made it look the best it possibly could. Yes, Ryo prided himself on his appearance. It was probably his biggest vice, because besides his vanity he was a laid-back, easy-going boy. Man, actually, as of yesterday. Huh. How strange.

He discovered that he had no breakfast food in his house. The steak he'd used on his eye yesterday was practically the only food in his house. Ryo did find out where the gin and vodka were, though.

He wasn't going to the same school as Kazu and Kenta, he knew. Akira had enrolled him in some elite private high school, and they went to the public one. He was actually glad that he was going to a school where he didn't know anyone – Kazu and Kenta weren't the same as they'd been when he'd left, and he would take any chance he could avoiding going to school with the psycho Rika Nonaka. He didn't really want to be friends with them anymore.

Once Akira was no longer in contact with Rumiko and Ryo had detached Kazu and Kenta from him, Ryo would never have to see that crazy girl ever again. It sounded like heaven to him, though she'd only been in his life a couple of days. Ryo didn't hold a grudge, it was true; he wasn't even mad at Rika for punching him anymore (maybe that was just the semi-concussion), he just thought she was very, very crazy and needed serious medical help. Or a straightjacket.

His stomach growling, he left his spacious apartment and headed downstairs. His father had shown him where his new school was, and it was only a few blocks away from his apartment building.

It soon came into view. It was obviously an expensive private school, as the iron gates and sprawling, manicured fields before it suggested. The gleaming white building had a modern style to it, like a hospital instead of a cozy building like his old school in California. He'd lived in a big city there, too – San Francisco – but his school had been smaller because it was for international students and those who were learning English as a second language, mostly those who spoke Japanese as their first. This school was positively massive.

Ryo gawked up at it as he walked into the building. He caught a group of three girls checking him out and grinned at them. They smiled back, but made no move to approach him so he continued on. The hall was sparklingly clean, and all the students wore meticulously-attended uniforms. They weren't especially beautiful students, but they had the polished, refined air of the rich: no acne, professionally styled hair, expensive perfumes and colognes. A lot of the girls were wearing delicate strands of pearls and all the students wore designer shoes.

Ryo felt a bit out of place. Sure, he was rich like them, but he had been on a tight budget when he lived in California. His dad only allotted him a small amount of money every month as an allowance, and so he didn't really _feel_ rich. He'd had a job, too, in San Francisco, so he had to work for most of his money. Nevertheless, he didn't feel the part.

His first class was calculus – what a way to start the day. Ryo glanced at his schedule and wished he knew how to find his classroom.

-x-

Rika sat in the very back row, in the far corner of the room next to the window. Bored already, she stared outside at the apple trees that were coming into blossom. Her teacher was droning on about derivatives – ugh, and the class had just been going on for two minutes.

Suddenly, the door slid open and all eyes turned to it. Rika glanced towards it as well. What she saw – or who she saw, to be specific – made her eyes widen and her mouth fall open. "No freaking way," she said audibly, a bit louder than she had meant it to be.

Ryo's eyes connected with hers and his eyebrows raised. Oh crap, it was Rika. Crazy Rika. Black-eye-giving Rika.

"You must be the new student!" the teacher exclaimed. "Everyone, this is Ryo Akiyama."

"Um… Hi," Ryo said, currently tongue-tied. He couldn't look away from Rika. What was she doing here? Did she really attend this school? How did she know Kazu and Kenta, then? It slowly dawned on Ryo that there were other places besides school to meet people. He felt incredibly stupid.

"Ryo, would you like to tell us a little bit about yourself?" the teacher asked.

"Uh…" Ryo finally tore his eyes away from Rika and glanced around the room. Did he have to? He really didn't want to. Ugh, where had his confidence gone?

Rika just gritted her teeth as she watched Ryo walk to the front of the room. Great, another reason to hate school. As if the people there weren't annoying enough already – now stupid Ryo Akiyama was there? She thought she'd scared him out of her life forever by kicking his ass. But no, there he was. Couldn't he transfer schools already?

"Hey… I'm Ryo," he said with a slight smile, still a bit dazed to see Rika again so soon. "I'm originally from here, but I studied abroad for three years in America. Now I'm back…" He wasn't sure what else to say.

"Thank you, Ryo. Does anyone have any questions for our new student?" the teacher asked. She seemed reluctant to talk about derivatives again, though she was supposed to be in love with calculus or something.

One hand shot up. It belonged to a rather tall boy who had the facial features of a model. "How'd you get your black eye?"

A few people laughed at the bluntness of the question, as if they should have expected the boy to ask it but were surprised and amused.

Ryo glanced at Rika. She regarded him coldly. Relieved, he realized she wasn't going to tell. "I got in a fight," he said. "I just got back from America a few days ago, and it's really dangerous there with all the gang warfare." Ugh, what was he _talking_ about?

"I've been to America and I didn't see any gangs," replied the boy.

"Where did you go?"

"Hawaii."

"That explains it," Ryo said. "I was in California, which is full of gangs in most places. I got jumped." Okay, Ryo would never be an actor _or_ a good liar, but the students were hanging on to his every word. "Seriously, you should have seen the other guy." A few kids laughed, and thankfully the teacher said he should sit down now.

"Let's see, the only open seat is next to… um, Rika there, in the back."

Rika glared at the teacher. This was going to be hell. People always tried to avoid sitting near Rika because everyone kind of hated her. She didn't talk much, except to tell people off when they were bothering her or acting especially stupid. A lot of the girls hated her because they wanted their mothers to be models like Rumiko was. Besides, Rika was naturally beautiful and she didn't have to wear makeup. She didn't ever wear it, in fact.

Ryo made his way down the aisle and sat down next to Rika. He glanced over at her wordlessly, and she pretended to ignore him. Soon he would realize that people just didn't talk to her much because they were too scared. They talked a lot about her behind her back – she was a whore who was just a bitch because she'd gotten pregnant when she was ten and she was always going through some kind of drug withdrawal so she hated the world – but never really to her face.

The girl on the other side of Ryo looked much friendlier, and she leaned over to touch his arm. "Hi, I'm Kameko. I think it's so cool that you studied abroad – I've always wanted to. And, by the way, don't be embarrassed about your black eye. My friends and I think battle scars are hot."

Ryo blinked (slowly, with the black eye), then smiled at her. "Well, thanks," he said.

"By the way, I'm so sorry you have to sit there. I mean, it's cool to have someone else next to me but that girl over there is such a bitch. Hopefully she'll leave you alone, though."

Ryo glanced at Rika. She was staring out the window, pretending not to hear.

"Anyway, we should talk again sometime. Like at lunch maybe?"

"Maybe," he said. He felt a little bad for Rika, but maybe she deserved it. She was pretty mean – food on his head, black eye, the birthday from hell? Yeah, she definitely deserved it. "Definitely," he told Kameko. "See you then?"

She grinned and nodded.

Rika tapped her nails on her desk. Stupid Ryo. He was probably going to climb the popularity ladder incredibly fast here. He'd fit right in with all the other arrogant jerks that ruled the school. She could just see it: Ryo and Kameko, prom king and queen. Ugh.

Of all the people at her school, Rika thought she probably hated Kameko and Yukio the most. They were basically the embodiments of everything she hated: he was a lazy, cocky, rich boy who took advantage of girls, and she was a manipulative, whiny gossiper who didn't do anything useful. Of course they were best friends – with benefits, Rika was sure. They always hung out at each others' mansions and they were too hormonal not to take advantage of their alone time together. It was gross. Of course, Rika also disliked them because of how much they talked about her behind her back.

She'd heard what Kameko had told Ryo, obviously – the girl was too loud and obnoxious for her not to have. But she didn't really care. She was pretty sure Ryo already had a strong opinion about her along these lines, and the more afraid of her he was, the more likely he was to leave her alone like everyone else did. Now she just had to work on her mom to make her ditch Akira. As far as Rika knew, Rumiko hadn't gotten a call from him yet, but she wasn't around to watch her mother the whole time. Rika was a bit worried that her mother had taken up online dating because of how often she took over the computer these days. Then again, at least a crazy internet stalker boyfriend didn't have Ryo for a son.

-x-

The next few classes passed tediously. And then it was lunch – finally. Ryo wasn't sure where everyone ate, so he tried to follow the crowd. He figured there was probably a cafeteria somewhere, but since it was a warm day, everyone was heading outside. He glanced around for Kameko, but couldn't find her anywhere.

With a sigh, Ryo weighed his options: he could sit alone somewhere or he could try and infiltrate a group and make friends. He usually would have gone with the latter, but everyone looked too exclusive right now. Maybe they thought he wasn't a good enough rich boy because he had a black eye – who knew. He didn't want to stand around looking like the biggest loser on earth, though, so he began to walk.

Ryo came across a secluded area with a couple trees and no benches. Obviously, nobody was sitting there because they didn't want to get grass stains on their uniforms. Sighing with relief, Ryo ducked behind a tree and sat down, leaning with his back against it. There – now he had a place to sit where nobody else would see him.

He hadn't brought a lunch, but he did have money. Nobody seemed to be selling food, though, and he wasn't sure if he was allowed to leave school for lunch. So he simply told himself to wait until school was out, even though his stomach growled even more. The vicious thing wanted to eat _him_.

Suddenly, the sound of steps coming briskly towards him were heard above his stomach's pleas. Ryo looked up only to see an annoyed Rika standing over him, her arms crossed.

He hadn't been able to see her very well in calculus, but now he got the full effect. She stood there, her hair pulled back messily as it had been before, a few strands hanging out of it and her choppy straight bangs framing her porcelain face. Her sailor-style uniform was loose-fitting on her thin frame. Instead of wearing white, black, or navy socks like virtually all of the girls there, she wore forest green ones with white skulls on them. Her black shoes were scuffed, not shiny and polished like those of most the girls there. And she wore black fingerless gloves that ended at her wrists. Rika's eyes were emotionless and looked dangerous as she stared blankly at him.

"What do you want?" he asked her, not rudely.

"Oh, don't be all proud that I'm talking to you, Akiyama. I don't want anything from you. You're just in my spot."

He stared at her. "Oh."

She waited, then sighed, exasperated. "Can you move already?"

"I thought you didn't want anything from me," he said, and she scowled. He continued: "Seriously, why should I give up my seat for you? You nearly gave me a concussion. I have a black eye, if you didn't notice."

"Like you didn't deserve it? You poured soda over my head."

"Still, that was just some sticky drink. This is internal bleeding."

"Whatever. Like you care anyway. You're just glad to get all this attention about it – gang warfare? Please. That was pathetic."

"I have it, so why not milk it for all its worth?"

Rika rolled her eyes. She just knew he was going to try and get with Kameko. He would regret that afterwards – especially when he received her millions of STDs. "Look, Akiyama, I don't like you and you don't like me. But we never have to talk again if we get our parents to break up. We don't have to interact at school or anything. Just move your ass."

Ryo was feeling increasingly stubborn. "I don't think I will," he retorted. "I kind of like it here."

"Get out of my spot."

"It's nice here… Good shade, nice view…" Ryo glanced around at the view around him and his eyes came to rest on Rika's bare legs – by accident, yes, but she still saw it.

She kicked him. "Sleazy sex-obsessed loser much?"

Ryo threw out a hand to catch himself so he didn't fall from her kick. "Ow," he said, rubbing his side where Rika had kicked him. He was remembering her violent behavior and began to wonder why he hadn't run away when she had demanded he do so. Of course, he would be losing then. And although he was generally laid-back, Ryo was fiercely competitive. Now, though, he just didn't want to get kicked again. "Okay, where can I sit then?" He got up reluctantly.

"I don't care as long as it's not in my spot." Rika quickly plopped down and leaned against the tree.

Ryo shrugged. "Do you know where… uh, Kameko sits?" he asked.

Rika snorted and began digging through her bag for her iPod. "Do I look like I'm a psycho stalker who knows where everyone eats?"

Ryo decided he didn't need to reply honestly. "So that's a no, right?"

Rika was more annoyed that she _did_ actually know where stupid Kameko sat. Everyone knew. But she couldn't let Ryo know that she knew. "I don't know, she's probably off spooning with Yukio. But I'm sure they have room for you in their love-fest." Rika yanked her iPod out of her bag and put in her headphones hurriedly. _Go away, Akiyama._

The way Rika said it sounded kind of bitter, like she really hated Kameko. Or maybe she was jealous of her for being with this Yukio guy? But Ryo thought he'd noticed some crush-like sparks between Rika and Henry… Yeesh, the guy had bad taste.

"Yeah, okay. Thanks for your help," Ryo said dully, then turned and left. Rika didn't hear a word.

-x-

The first thing Ryo saw when it was time to go home was Kameko flying towards him. "Ryo, hey! Where were you at lunch?"

Ryo was ashamed to say that after his encounter with Rika, he'd hidden inside the school, walking around and finding his next classes. "Oh, just… around. I didn't see you."

"Oh, you should have just asked someone! Everyone knows where I eat."

Ryo sighed. _Damn Rika._ Maybe she just wanted him to be as antisocial as she was. "Next time," he said.

"Definitely. Hey, you want a ride home?"

"Uh, yeah, that'd be great!" Ryo replied brightly. It was only a couple of blocks, but who was he to say no to a free ride? Especially if it led to making friends, immense popularity, etc. He was determined to show Rika he wasn't just some loser who went with his dad to speed dating sessions on his birthday.

Kameko had a pink convertible. Ryo wasn't sure how she'd gotten a pink one, seeing as he'd heard a rumor that you couldn't get pink cars.

"Do you mind squeezing in with Ami, Kaede, and Hoshi back there?" Kameko asked him. She and Yukio were in the front, and three girls were squished in the back of the small car.

Ryo grinned. "Sure, no problem," he said, getting into the car. He ended up between Kaede, a delicate-looking girl with fragile features and wavy hair, and Hoshi, a bright-eyed girl who'd cut her hair short in a pixie style. He sat there talking to all of them – except for Ami, who didn't seem to like talking very much, or at least not to him. They all wanted to hear the story about his black eye.

On the way to Ryo's house, which was the first along the way, they passed Rika, who was walking home alone. Nobody seemed to see her but Ryo.

Kameko pulled up in front of Ryo's apartment. "Right here?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said, climbing over Hoshi to get out. "Thanks for the ride!"

They pulled away, waving goodbye. Ryo smiled and walked towards his apartment building. Day one and he'd already made some semi-friends. They seemed cool, too. Ryo went inside his apartment, waiting for his dad to come back – he'd tell him the news about Rika's violence and how Akira had to break up with Rumiko. Or break off whatever it was they were doing.

-x-

"Grandma, I'm home," Rika said as she walked in her house and pulled off her shoes. She needed to change out of this skirt – it was killing her.

"Hi, Rika!" came her grandmother Seiko's voice. "How was school?"

"Oh, same as usual."

"Meaning terrible?"

"Exactly." Rika hurried towards her room to change and passed her grandmother, who was sitting in front of the family computer.

"Well, your mother went back to work today, which is good," Seiko said.

Normally Rika wouldn't have called her mother modeling good, but at least she wasn't sitting around waiting for Akira to call. She hoped he'd lost interest so she wouldn't have to try and convince Rumiko to dump him. But it kind of also pissed her off if he'd lost interest – who the hell was _he_ to lose interest in her?

Rika changed into normal, comfortable clothes: jeans and a t-shirt. Sighing with relief, she went back in to talk to her grandmother.

"Think she's given up on him calling her back?" she asked.

Seiko turned around to look at her granddaughter. "No, not at all," she said, seemingly surprised. "Didn't she talk to you about it? She was chatting with him online all day yesterday. She's invited him over for dinner Friday."

"What?!" Rika demanded. She couldn't believe it! What was her mother doing? Didn't she know that she and Akira could _not_ be together? This was absolutely terrible. "No way!"

"Oh, don't worry, we're invited too. And Akira is bringing his son, who's around your age."

Ha. Of course he was! "Ugh! I'm not going!" Rika stormed into her room. Stupid Rumiko – what was wrong with her? She knew that Rika and Ryo didn't get along unless she was even stupider than Rika thought.

She'd make plans with Jeri, Takato, and Henry – she'd even stand Kazu and Kenta if it meant she could get away from spending any more time with the stupid Akiyama kid. And she'd tell her mother that she could no longer see Akira or else she'd run away or start doing drugs or get pregnant. Maybe then Rumiko would take her seriously. In any case, there was no way Rika was letting herself be around for this dumb dinner party.

-x-

**End of Chapter Six: School Days**

-x-

I know, it was short, huh? And nothing much happened. It was basically just to establish the fact that Ryo now goes to Rika's school and what it's like and whatnot. Hopefully I will post the next chapter soon!

Please review!!! 8D


	7. Dinner Party Prep

Hey everyone! Sadly enough, I'm going back to school soon. D: I hope I can still update, but I'm starting new classes and since I'm aiming to fulfill a bunch of G.E.s this semester, they're all gonna be math and science… aka my bad subjects. xD They're interesting classes, though, so I hope they're not too hard. ^^

Thank you to everyone who reviewed last chapter: **Rainbow35, rika4life, anon, lil miss rebel, Firearm-Alchemist, alamodie, Freyagal, **and **jhinkoi**. Yay! ^^

Specific questions/issues brought up in reviews…

**alamodie: **Hmm, I guess I didn't answer that in the story yet! xD; Here I was thinking that I had… Well, I didn't find anywhere to put it into this chapter, but hopefully next chapter I can. C: I'm thinking, though, that she met Henry and Takato in elementary school, and then met Jeri, Kazu, and Kenta through Takato (became best friends with the first, and hated the other two xD). But still not sure. ^^

**Freyagal: **I totally know what you mean! xD I love those kinds of stories too. ^^ Like how Rika and Ryo (sort of) were in the anime… Or Sana and Akito in Kodocha… Or Tsukushi and Tsukasa in Hana Yori Dango… Um, anyway! xD;

**jhinkoi: **Ahaha, good question. ^^; Well… Since Ryo is 18, he should be graduating this school year, and Rika should be graduating the next year (as her birthday's basically the last day of the Japanese school year cut-off, March 31st). But because most Japanese schools are year-round (theirs is), Ryo's behind almost a whole year since he missed three quarters (for summers) in his American school. And since there are curriculum/graduation requirement differences in each country, he's even more behind. Basically, he has to take an extra year and a half or so to catch up and properly graduate from their high school, so he's stuck as a second-year/junior with Rika. HOWEVER, this gets even more complicated with their calculus class because it's a third-year/senior course. Oy vey… xD; Did that make any sense? I hope so…

Time for chapter seven! I hope you all like it… ^^

-x-

**Chapter Seven: Dinner Party Prep**

-x-

"…I can't believe I'm letting myself be around for this," Rika muttered to herself as she ate her breakfast, watching Rumiko and Seiko hurry around like the crazy party planners they were. The dinner party was – obviously – not happening until the evening, and they were already decorating the place? Rika couldn't have been more annoyed.

"I was _supposed_ to do something with my friends, not hang around with _family_ at some lame dinner party with the guy I hate," Rika grumbled. She glanced up to see if anyone cared. They didn't.

"I guess I'll have to call Jeri and tell her I'm bailing out on her. Seriously, _mother_, you're gonna make me an antisocial freak."

Rumiko stopped arranging candles "of light warm hue" on the dining table for a moment and turned around to regard Rika, one hand placed delicately on her hip. "Oh, Rika. You're so dramatic. And from what I hear at parent-teacher conferences, you're already an antisocial freak anyway!"

Rika stood up defiantly. "Thanks, Mom. Nice of you." Rumiko probably hadn't _meant_ to be mean – she never really meant anything, she was such an airhead – but stuff like that still hurt Rika's feelings. Not that she'd ever admit it, of course. It wasn't like she even wanted to be friends with any of the spoiled little brats at her school, but that wasn't the point. "But, you know, I'd rather be an antisocial freak than a trashy slut like you were." She turned on her heel and walked briskly towards the front door.

Rumiko was left standing there. She was still for a moment before she reacted: "_Rika Nonaka_!" she screamed. "You get back here this instant!"

A slamming front door was the only reply she got.

Rumiko turned to face Seiko. "Ugh! Mom…" she whined.

The woman sighed. "Rumiko, you have to remember that behind Rika's icy exterior, she's a very sensitive girl. She wants to be close to you, but sometimes you say things and act in ways that are simply clumsy and foolish of you. You need to have more thought behind them."

Rumiko felt guilty – she was supposed to be the parent here, but she always felt like she and Rika were sisters and Seiko was their mother. She tried to act more like a mother, but she was so young… She wasn't ready to become a mother when Rika was born, and she wasn't sure if she was even ready to be a mother now. That was why she relied on her own mother so much. Seiko was right: Rumiko acted without thinking all the time. "I know, Mom… But… she always acts so tough…"

-x-

Ryo grabbed his umbrella before heading downstairs to his apartment's lobby. Even though he lived so close to school, Ryo was being driven every day by Kameko and her friends. Still, he had to have an umbrella for the rest of the day – it was pouring outside, and Ryo hated the rain.

Spotting Kameko's pink car outside, he left his apartment and, unfurling his umbrella, hurried over to it and got in, squeezing in beside Kaede. She gave him a small smile as all the others greeted him.

He'd gotten to know Kameko and her friends over this past week. Kameko herself was, as predicted, the queen bee of the school, the most popular and one of the richest girls. She was always seen with Yukio or one of her elite friends – maybe Ryo was becoming one of them. The elitest of the elite were Kameko, Yukio, Kaede, Ami, and Hoshi.

Yukio was kind of like Kameko's toadie but only because she was Kameko. Otherwise, Yukio was the apparent king of the school. He was, unsurprisingly, an athlete and not very smart. Kameko seemed to make up for his lack of brains though. All the teachers loved her and she always got the answers right.

Ryo wasn't sure what to think about Kaede much. She'd talked to him a lot, but she was… well, he wasn't sure. She didn't seem to have much of a sense of humor, and she seemed kind of judgmental. Not exactly to Ryo, but to others. He just wondered if she was judging him too.

Ami never really spoke to him, or around him for that matter. She'd only said a few expressionless words to him, which made him think that she had the impression she was too good for him. He didn't mind so much. She was probably uninteresting anyway. Ryo couldn't understand why she was so popular, though she was as beautiful as Kaede and Hoshi, and nearly as much as Kameko.

Ryo certainly knew why Hoshi was so well-liked. She had a warm, welcome air about her and was even friendlier than Kameko. Maybe it was because Kameko seemed a little obsessed with her grades and appearances, while with Hoshi… She seemed much more self-assured and natural. Still, she wore lots of makeup and had her hair styled and highlighted a chestnut brown, but compared to Kameko?

"Ready for first period calculus?" Kameko asked now as she pealed away from Ryo's curb. Everyone was thrown back in their seat – she wasn't the best driver.

"Ugh, don't remind me," Ryo replied with a groan. Okay, so maybe he actually did like calculus. But Kameko always complained about it, and none of the others showed any interest in school whatsoever, so he figured that admitting his nerdy math love would just make them laugh at him. They laughed at other people, and he didn't want to be one of them.

"And here I think my statistics class is a rude awakening," Hoshi said with a laugh. At their school, it was widely known that statistics was about the easiest math class – except for what the first-year students took, of course.

"Please," Kaede added with a smile. "Calculus is just drawing wavy lines. Statistics is real."

"You're just jealous that I get to be in a smart person class with _Ryo_!" Kameko accused with a gracious laugh.

"Why would I be jealous of that?" Kaede asked.

"Cause you waaaant him," Yukio drawled.

"Oh, shut up," Kaede laughed, leaning forward and hitting Yukio lightly on the head. "You're the one jealous that Kameko is in love with him!"

Yukio crossed his arms, feigning an extremely upset attitude. "You got me there," he said.

Ryo was just confused. But he laughed along like he understood what was going on. He preferred not to overthink things; it made life too complicated. Plus he didn't want his new friends to know about this secret side to him. If they knew he actually sat down and ruminated on things, what would they think about him? Kameko and her friends all seemed like they spent their time doing and not thinking – though everything they did was perfectly performed. They seemed like they really lived, and he didn't want to be the weird introspective kid who nobody liked. Ami was already quiet enough – she always seemed lost in her own thoughts, or perhaps she was just cold. And as Ryo knew, Kameko wouldn't tolerate two people like that in her group. Everyone had to be unique – and that meant that Ryo had to be someone else.

He thought about this on the very short drive to school. Then he realized he was just overthinking again. Too bad his brain didn't have an on and off switch.

-x-

Rika hated umbrellas, so she hadn't brought one on her walk to school. The result was very frizzy hair, and though she didn't care what she looked like, it made it difficult to keep it in a ponytail. Another result was that all the girls, and some of the guys, began laughing at her behind her back. Not that she couldn't tell. She just didn't give a crap.

She walked down the hallway once she got inside, her uniform and hair hanging over her thin frame, wet and even dripping occasionally. The rain wasn't too bad, but the walk was just enough to leave her nearly soaked through. Her shoes squeaked on the tile floor and for once she looked forward to the coatroom where she could change into her ugly school shoes.

Rika sighed with relief once she'd slipped them on, but then groaned when she realized her first class was calculus. With stupid Ryo. And Kameko? Ugh. She was already leaving an embarrassing trail of water around wherever she went – she'd heard maybe a thousand remarks just walking to the coatroom about how she'd peed in her pants, despite the fact that she was clearly not wearing pants. She didn't know how she'd be able to stand the two people she was dreading the most today. And in the morning, of all things! Rika was not a morning person.

She got to class before anyone else was there and sat down, hoping her chair would sop up all the water from her clothes. Ryo and Kameko came in right before the bell rang, and they laughed as it sounded just as they rushed in. It figured.

Rika hadn't talked to Ryo since he'd harassed her at lunch his first day. He no longer had any need for her, since he knew where Kameko sat. It seemed he'd finally given up trying to annoy her.

…but it annoyed her _so much_ that he hadn't even said one word to her.

Okay, so Rika didn't actually want him to get all buddy-buddy with her, but it would be nice if he could tell her "by the way, my dad and your mom broke up and she just didn't tell you" or something. At least discussing a plan to split them up would be better than nothing! Did he not care about Akira and Rumiko being together? Did he _want_ to end up having to live with Rika and being her – ugh – stepbrother?

And there he sat, chatting so cheerfully with Kameko about clubbing or money or whatever the hell Kameko and her little crowd talked about. Without even casting a glance in Rika's direction! He hadn't even mentioned the dinner party tonight. What an absolutely disgusting, horrible, annoying, ass –

"What are you doing tonight?" Kameko asked, voice sugary. Rika wanted to throw up, but was interested in his answer. Now he'd have to admit it. Maybe now he'd talk to her and she could insult him and they could make plans to kill the budding romance between their parents.

Ryo hadn't been prepared for this question. Akira had told him about the dinner party, and he was certainly dreading going just as much as Rika was dreading having them over. And how much of a loser would he sound if he admitted he was going to dinner at Rika's house that Friday night?

Probably not as much as if he told Kameko his dad had took him speed-dating on his eighteenth birthday.

Still, time for a lie. "Going to a party," he replied. "With my friends, who go to West Shinjuku High."

Rika exhaled. _What the hell?_ Oh. She understood. He was too humiliated to say that he was spending any time with her. That was it, of course. _What a lying, obsequious bastard!_ Well, Ryo would soon see his mistake.

She leaned over as far as she could to rest her damp elbows on his desk. Strands of her wet hair dripped onto his arm as she brought her face close to the two. Suddenly she didn't regret being so bedraggled from the rain anymore. "Oh, did you forget, Ryo?" she asked, with an expression of genuine concern for the poor boy's memory.

_Oh crap._ Ryo's blue eyes widened slightly with a sharp intake of air. He stared at Rika dumbly. Was she going to tell? _Please don't, please don't…_

"Your dad's bringing you over to my house tonight for a playdate," Rika said, smiling. "It'll be so much fun!"

_Damn._ She was merciless. "Oh… ha… ha! Guess I… just… forgot," Ryo managed to say.

Kameko giggled. "Ryo, are you serious? You're going over to her _house_?" She leaned closer to whisper to him loudly, making sure Rika could hear. "Be careful. She probably has a torture room or something. And her mom might try to seduce you or something – I hear she's quite the whore."

Rika froze and the smile disappeared from her face, but she took a deep breath before she acted. If she hadn't, she would have probably ended up knocking the bitch flat on her back and beating her senseless. Instead, she only replied: "Then I guess you should come over too; you'd fit right in." Rika left Ryo's desk and returned to hers, nails digging into her palms. She couldn't do anything now; they were in class. But she'd certainly get her back sometime.

Ryo's eyes had widened at Kameko's comment. Catfight much? He hadn't expected her to say something that… well, catty. She didn't seem like the type, despite the popular-girl-stereotype.

But when he glanced over at her, she only winked at him. "Don't worry, I got your back," she replied with a smile.

Ryo guessed it couldn't be too cruel of her if she'd just been doing it for him. Like… protecting him, or standing up for him, or something. That was what friends did, even if they had to be mean to do it.

He was lucky to have a friend like Kameko.

-x-

If Rika thought about it, she really did spend altogether too much time sitting around and imagining ways to get revenge on those she hated. A favorite method involved poison-tipped pins, and sometimes a large cannon came into play. Then, of course, there was always psychological torture: sticking someone in a glass hole, for instance. They'd try and try to get out, but the sides would be too slippery and they'd just keep falling back down. Rika would laugh from the top and maybe throw some dirt at the poor victim.

It wasn't so much that she was such a violent person – school forced her to act like this. Stupid people everywhere, screaming, yelling, laughing at stupid things, everyone trying to look pretty and act pretty and be with pretty people. No, Rika probably would have been practically cuddly if she'd gone to a school with people who had brains.

That's what she told herself, anyway.

But she wasn't lucky enough to go to school with one brain-possessor. Not even that weird exchange student Asdghig from wherever-the-hell-Eastern-European-country she was from. Not even Haru, who she'd sort-of-but-not-really had a crush on at some point in time. He wore smart glasses and didn't talk loudly, but despite his appearance of intelligence developed a crush on some bleach-blonde girl who called herself "Sally" to be more "western". Naturally, Rika didn't think much of him anymore.

Actually, lunch was about the only time she didn't come up with ways to get back at her classmates. All she did was sit under her tree and eat and listen to her iPod, and this day was no different despite the rain. The tree sort of sheltered her, and she'd shoved her iPod into her pocket so it wouldn't get wet. She liked when it rained, because then nobody else would be outside. The sound of rain, even heard through music and headphones, cleared her head. She felt calm, even at peace with the world. It was times like these that she wanted to sing along to her music, but even the thought of it made her face turn red. _Stop being so dumb, Rika. Your thoughts make me want to puke._ Rika never sang aloud. Not that there was any other kind of singing, really – well, she sang along inside her head, but that didn't count.

She used to be a good singer. They called her a little prodigy. She took classes and the old lady who played piano looked down over her glasses when she heard her first few notes. "Is this your first lesson?" Rika nodded. "How old are you?" she asked.

"Five," Rika had said. Her mother had definitely been one of those stage mothers.

"That's five wasted years of your life." The woman straightened her glasses. "Now sing something else."

Rika didn't have a dramatic, sob-story reason why she'd stopped singing. It wasn't like her father had walked out on her the day of her big recital or anything so made-for-TV-movie like that. It wasn't because she was sick of her mother being so pushy – she didn't notice how much of a stage mother she was until later. She didn't mess up a song in front of a huge audience. She just stopped, and she'd never sung again. Simple as that.

So it was times like these that she didn't really understand. Why would she get some urge to sing when she hadn't in years? The desire to sing passed soon, as it always did, and then she had no reason why she'd wanted to. Because once the feeling passed away, singing was the last thing Rika wanted to do.

-x-

Ryo ate with Kameko and her friends every day now. They sat on this cool little balcony that overlooked the front of the school where everyone else sat, and it had this great view of the school grounds and beyond. The bay was even visible from the balcony, despite the fact that it wasn't that high up from the ground.

Of course, it was raining today, and they sat inside the huge cafeteria. Ryo had never been in it before that day, and he was amazed at how nice it was. The floors were waxed and spotless, the chairs were sleek and slightly padded, the tables didn't have a crumb on them. And the food was practically gourmet. There were sneeze guards and clear labels for all the food, and a few fridges with expensive drinks in them. Ryo didn't have much money on him – he hadn't expected it would be this pricey.

"You didn't get much," Yukio noted when Ryo got to their table. It was the nicest one, right in the middle of the floor, with a yellow glass skylight over it. Rain poured down the glass, making interesting patterns and splashes as it hit, but nobody seemed to notice or care. Maybe they were just used to it.

"Too expensive for you?" Kaede asked, and Ryo wasn't sure if she was concerned or just being snotty. He decided the first one, though he still didn't want to admit that's why he didn't buy much.

"No, I just eat a small lunch, if I eat one at all," he replied. He'd never actually eaten around them. "One of the diets I picked up in California – it's the best for your metabolism." Um, okay.

Kameko nodded. "Besides, you'll be having a big dinner later at Rika-the-freaka's place!" She giggled. "I told them all about it. It sucks, but you'll have tons of hilarious stories to tell us afterwards. I mean, think of it! You're actually going to see where she lives. Ew, I bet it's dumpsville. Her mom is probably strapped for cash."

"Actually, I hear she's doing really well," Hoshi replied as she stabbed a frozen grape with her fork. "I saw she did the last spread in October's issue of _Spark_. It was this whole concept with, like, famous paintings. _The Scream_ was freaky! But she looked so gorgeous for _Starry Night_, in all blues and yellows and with her face painted and yellow sparkles in her hair. And then for _Mona Lisa_, she looked just like – "

"Okay, okay, Hoshi," Kameko interrupted. "We all saw that stupid spread, but I mean, she's getting old. She has like wrinkles and bags under her eyes and it's just gross. No amount of makeup can hide her age."

"Maybe some Botox," Kaede speculated, staring down into her cup of herbal tea. "Lots of it. Think your dad could hook her up, Hoshi?"

Ryo had learned that Hoshi's dad was the best plastic surgeon in West Shinjuku. Hoshi smiled. "He would, only I wouldn't let him. That would be bad for our reputation." Hoshi bounced confusingly in between her random thoughts concerning the good things in other people, to her catty comments about them. Ryo couldn't understand her.

"I don't think anything could fix her," Ami muttered darkly. "The dumbass bitch quality is just there. It can't be taken away."

It was like the second time Ryo had ever heard Ami talk.

"Anyway, it'll be funny to see her apartment," Yukio said. "I bet it's all dirty and there's a thousand cats running all over the place."

"I bet Rika has sex with the cats," Kameko said, and Hoshi and Kaede giggled. Yukio made a face: "Ew!"

"Call me right after, okay?" Kameko asked, resting her hand on Ryo's arm. "Try my cell; we're all going out to the beach after school."

Ryo sighed. "Yeah, okay. I'm so jealous…"

"Hey, we'll hang out Sunday, okay? I'm in this play, so we can hang out afterwards. Do you wanna come see it?" Kameko asked.

Ryo nodded. "Sure!"

Kameko smiled. "Okay… You can meet these losers there and I'll give them an extra ticket for you."

"Speaking of losers, can't you just ditch this loser fest and come with us to the beach?" Kaede asked. "You know you'd have so much more fun."

"I'd have more fun strangling myself. I wish I could skip out, but… I don't think I can." He hesitated before continuing. "Uh, here's the thing. I didn't actually see my dad – at _all_ – while I was studying abroad. So I'm really trying to spend as much time with him as possible, and he works, like, all the time."

"Aw, sweet," Hoshi said. "Isn't it?"

Kameko nodded with a smile in Ryo's direction. "Someone's a daddy's boy! No, really, it's cute. I totally understand. My dad works all the time too, so whenever I can see him I do."

Yukio glanced towards Kameko strangely, almost as if he knew this wasn't true. This wasn't the strangest thing, though. Instead, what Ryo found the weirdest reaction to Kameko's remark was Ami's. She actually glanced up from the table and locked eyes with him. Ryo was completely confused – it was the first time she'd ever made eye contact with him before. She gave a slight motion with her head, as if she was shaking it a bit.

"Right. Whatever. But what does that have to do with Rika-the-freaka and going to her house?" Kaede asked, sipping her tea. Ami looked down again.

"Careful, Kaede. Jealousy suits you like last season's Versace fits the dumpster, but you don't want to be too obvious," Yukio teased, taking a strand of her hair and twisting it around his finger.

"Ew! Jealous of Rika the hobag?" Kameko squealed.

"Shut up. I'm not jealous, it just doesn't make sense." Kaede tapped the table in front of Ryo's food with her manicured nails. "Answer the question, Ryo."

And here was the part he didn't want to admit. "My dad is… ah, dating her mom."

The table became silent for a second before everyone spoke.

"Gross!"

"Eew!"

"You serious?"

"Weird!"

Ami was the last one to say something, after all of them. "You're going to be stepsiblings."

Ryo shuddered. "Ugh, no. I'm trying to break them up. They've only been out like once." And what a horrible time that was. "But anyway, I'm trying to be a good kid and go along to the stupid dinner party with my dad. Once they're not seeing each other anymore, I will never have to talk to her again."

Kameko shook her head. "Good luck breaking them up," she said. "Ew, I can't believe they're going out. No offense, but your dad has sucky taste."

"If she's anything like Rika, anyway," Hoshi said, glancing around. "Huh. I wonder where she is? She doesn't eat in here when it rains?"

Kaede sniffed. "She's probably eating outside in the mud and everything. I mean, she's so disgustingly dirty already that she doesn't mind it. And you know she doesn't give a crap about her hair, so she doesn't mind getting it wet."

"Yuck. Ew, right? She was totally wet in calculus today, huh Ryo?" Kameko asked. "Like soaking wet. I bet her mom won't buy her an umbrella because she knows it's the only time she ever takes a shower. Or maybe Rika just wanted to advertise her sluttiness even more to everyone by wearing a wet uniform. She's like a walking billboard for her whorehouse."

Ryo felt kind of bad for Rika, but not really. She was pretty horrible, and if she was as mean to these girls as she'd been to him, he sort of understood it. But was she the only person they ever talked about? Ryo had heard them mention some other people, but never for very long like when they talked about Rika.

He wondered what was between Kameko's group and Rika. And what was going on with Ami? He still didn't know much about any of them. Ryo wondered if he'd ever find out anything about this place.

-x-

Rika trudged home after another horrible day at school. Go figure. Her clothes were soaked already, and she was only a few blocks away from the campus. Rumiko had offered to buy her a car, but Rika didn't really want one. She didn't want to be like all the other spoiled brats at her school.

Speaking of spoiled brats (like Ryo), tonight was going to be hell. Her mom was probably going to try and make her wear a dress and act polite and whatnot, and Rika was so not going to. She really needed to come up with a way to make Rumiko dump Akira. She could find a better guy who didn't have kids, or at least didn't have devil spawn for offspring.

Suddenly, she heard bad pop music pounding against windows and she rolled her eyes. It was sure to be Kameko in her horrible pink car, with all her cronies. Too bad they possessed _one_ collective brain cell and were able to figure out how to put the convertible's top up. Maybe if they got rained on they would all melt like the witches they were. Rika smirked.

"Hey, it's Rika-the-freaka!" came an annoying voice. Yukio's. Kameko's car came flying past, coming so close to Rika that she felt the wind. But they weren't trying to scare her by driving close. Oh, no. They were simply aiming for the huge puddle along the side of the road.

Rika was suddenly even wetter than she'd been before, as a huge wave of water was sprayed onto her. She stopped walking with a groan and pushed her sopping wet bangs back from her face to glare at the car that was speeding away. "…fuck you," she muttered after them, then continued on.

-x-

Everyone in Kameko's car was laughing hysterically, except maybe Ami. Ryo wasn't really sure. Oh, he wasn't really laughing either. A little bit, but what Kameko had done was a bit overboard. Unless… he was underestimating what had happened between Rika and Kameko to make them hate each other so much.

But he glanced back to see Rika's reaction and it surprised him. Instead of what he thought she'd be doing – chasing after them and breathing fire or something – she was simply standing there calmly. She was completely composed. And just before Kameko's car rounded the corner, making her disappear from Ryo's sight, Rika lifted up her head to stare at the pink convertible with defiant eyes that met his.

Her reaction surprised him, yes. But he could easily predict that she was not going to be happy to see him tonight.

-x-

If only Rika could say that the preparations for dinner were going to be the worst part of the whole affair. Normally, she would have thought this for any dinner party they held, as she would be forced to wear a dress or slacks and a blouse, and Rumiko would apply so much makeup to her face she felt like a clown.

But of course, the dinner with stupid puddle-splashing, instantly-popular Ryo Akiyama was going to be the worst part. At least Seiko would be there, and Rika could talk to her as the couple gazed into each other's eyes and such.

Besides, this dinner party was different and Rumiko had to make sure everything was exactly perfect. "Rika, honey, is that you?" she called as Rika came in the front door. "Hurry and get ready! They'll be here at five! I don't really have time to help you tonight, but I'm sure you'll know what to do! Dinner is smart-casual attire!" Rumiko was hanging up streamers and didn't even turn around to see that Rika was dripping water all over the floor.

Wow, an hour and forty minutes. Hardly time for Rika to get ready. Not. Though she did want to take a shower to get the street water off of her. Rumiko and Akira would be disgusted if they saw the brownish water dripping down her clothes. Especially Akira; Rika was pretty sure he was a neat freak judging by his spotless suit from the night of Ryo's birthday and the way he ate. He'd probably have a heart attack and refuse to ever return if he saw her looking like she'd just dragged herself out of the gutter.

Hmm.

-x-

Akira, like Rumiko, was in a state of slight panic, making sure everything was perfect for their dinner plans. "We have to be there at five, so we'll leave at four-thirty," he told Ryo as soon as he came in the door.

"What? Are we walking?' Ryo asked.

"No, but I want to make sure we're not late."

"Um… Where exactly is it?"

"A few blocks east, I think," Akira said.

"Uh… why don't we just walk then?"

"Ryo! I can't get my suit dirty or creased from walking! Besides, it might start raining again soon."

"Well, let's at least leave later, then, so we're not like twenty-five minutes early."

"I want to make sure we're there on time," Akira said. "Early is better than late."

_Not if you have to spend more time with Rika_, Ryo thought to himself mournfully. His new friends were all going to the beach, and he was stuck going to the house of some crazy girl who hated him. "Dad, I'm not feeling very well. Can I – "

"Remember to be nice to Rika," Akira said. "I can tell she's very shy at first, but I'm sure that if you make an effort to be kind to her, she'll open up and you two will be friends."

Hah. Shy? Okay then. Ryo still hadn't told Akira about the whole black eye thing, as they kept missing each other with Akira's busy schedule, but he definitely would after tonight. That way he could make it seem like he'd made an effort to give Rika a second chance after she'd punched him, and that even afterwards she'd been nothing but rude to him. Ryo would show his father that dating Rumiko was no longer an option because of her horrible daughter.

"Go change," Akira said. "Into your nicest sweater and some dress pants, maybe. Or even a blazer if you feel like it!"

Ryo already had his outfit planned. He was going for the "perfect gentleman" look. Then, when juxtaposed with Rika, it would all be her fault. When their behavior was so different that even Akira could notice it, maybe they'd be getting somewhere.

-x-

_Ding-dong._

"Rika? Would you get the door? Mom and I still have to finish setting the table!" Rumiko called frantically from the dining room.

Rika was already there. "Of course," she said. Then, with a smile, she opened the door. Two well-dressed males stared back at her, their smiles fading slightly when they saw her.

"Hello!" Rika said with a slight bow. They mimicked her stiffly.

A droplet of water dripped onto Akira's shiny shoe and he glanced down at it.

Okay, so Rika wasn't exactly still wet from the car-splashing incident, but she'd made sure to stand in the backyard until it stopped raining. And maybe she'd dipped her hair in the koi pond in the yard a little, but that wasn't really _weird_ or anything. It was a sacrifice she was willing to make to get the Akiyamas out of her life.

"Sorry if I'm kind of wet," Rika apologized politely. "I was walking home from school when some car rudely splashed me." She met Ryo's eyes, then looked back to Akira. "It was water from the gutter, so I apologize if I have a… erm, stench to me. I didn't have enough time to shower. Ah – I did change, though. I didn't want to dirty my _nice_ clothes, so that explains my outfit."

Ryo glanced at the holes in her jeans and the white tank top she wore, which was stained on the front with something that looked like red-orange soup. Probably blood, actually.

Rika and Ryo looked at each other's eyes at the same time. They both had the same thought, equally dripping in weary sarcasm: _This is going to be so much fun._

-x-

**End of Chapter Seven: Dinner Party Prep**

-x-

Yay! Sorry I couldn't fit the actual dinner party in here, but there's something for you to look forward too. ^^ I am starting to get into writing this fic now! I hope I can update before I go back to school. So please review!!!


	8. Attempt 1: Exes and Pet Peeves

Hey everyone! Sorry to leave you hanging with the last chapter. But here's this one!

Thank you so much to the reviewers of the last one: **pranksta-4-lyf, Rainbow35, lil miss rebel, anon, alamodie, rika4life, Depthmon, Jhin-koi, BabyDark, Freyagal, **and **Amulet Misty**. Yay! We got to 50 reviews! That makes me so happy! 8D

But I'm sure you don't want to hear about that and would prefer to read on… Well, as nobody asked any questions in particular (unless I'm stupid and completely missed them), here it is! C:

-x-

**Chapter Eight: Attempt 1: Exes and Pet Peeves**

-x-

"I'd take your jackets, but I'm afraid I'd get them wet. You can hang them up there, though. Oh, and… Mr. Akiyama, sir, my mother and grandmother are just getting the table ready in the dining room. They have told me that once they're done, they will meet you in the living room for appetizers and drinks." Rika motioned to various things around her house as she spoke: the coat rack near the front door; the living room behind her. "My mother felt that Ryo would prefer me to give him a tour of the house…?" Rika looked towards the Akiyamas questioningly as Akira made his way into the living room. "Please sit."

Akira did so, and replied, "Thank you. Ryo, go with Rika."

The boy's eyes widened. No. Please. Anything else! "But – "

"Right this way!" Rika said, crushing his spirits, as she left the living room to step outside again. Her house was an old fashioned one, sort of encircling the courtyard with a few long wings of the house. Everything was attached by a covered wooden porch, where Rika led a very reluctant Ryo.

As soon as they left the living room and were outside, Ryo began talking incessantly, despite the fact that he hated being alone with her. Or with her at all. "I can't believe you haven't showered yet. That's so gross! Do you know how weird you are? And you live in a _house_? Even we don't live in a house! Does anyone else in the world live in houses?"

"No, just me," Rika replied flatly. "Shut up, Akiyama."

"Did you know you're passing a bunch of rooms? Isn't this supposed to be a tour?" Ryo complained as he tried to keep up with her. She was walking briskly, and he had to hurry to match her stride.

"I said shut up."

"You have wooden floors and you still walk around with your hair all wet and dripping everywhere! If I had a house, I would clean it like… every second, and never get it dirty or anything."

"Akiyama, you're a moron. How could you clean it if you never let it get dirty first?" Rika asked with a roll of her eyes. "Besides, it's not that great. It's too big. And these doors? They're really easy to break into, so it's kind of a stupid system. There's like… virtually no locks or anything. How safe can _that_ be?"

"Did you realize you just basically told me how to break into your house?" Ryo asked. "I can't believe I'm saying that – your _house_."

"Shut up."

"I won't, though."

"You won't shut up?"

"No, I won't break in."

"Dammit."

"Huh?"

"…we have an alarm system surrounding the whole place that we set at night. It immediately calls the cops. Now will you shut up?"

"Oh, nice, Rika. What do you think I am, anyway, a robber or something? Just because I don't live in some huge house like you doesn't mean I'm strapped for cash – "

"Akiyama. Shut. Up." With a glance around, Rika finally stopped moving, and Ryo stared at her, confused. Was she actually going to show him a room? Her hand closed around his forearm as she slid open one of the doors and yanked him inside, then closed it after them.

She let go as soon as they were inside, and made a show about wiping her hand off on her pants with a disgusted look on her face.

What, like his hand was more disgusting than her holey street-water jeans?

The answer was fairly obvious to Rika.

Ryo glanced around. It was someone's bedroom – Rika's? No, it couldn't be. It was too clean to be hers. The floor was literally spotless, and there was a low table in the middle of it. Besides that, an overflowing bookshelf, and a desk, there was no other furniture. Hmm, no bed. Maybe it wasn't a bedroom? Well, this house was huge, after all. It probably had tons of extra bedrooms, and this was used as some sort of weird office.

"Um, what are we doing?" Ryo asked.

"Akiyama. We need to talk." Rika sat down at the table and motioned for him to be seated across from her. He obeyed, reluctantly.

"Are you breaking up with me or something?" Ryo asked, smirking.

"Oh, so funny. Shut up, for like the quadrillionth time. _Anyway_. We need to – "

"I'm sorry, but where are we?" Ryo asked, his eyes, annoying, not on Rika but instead at the room around them. "This can't be your office room thing. Is this seriously yours?"

"Did you drink like seven coffees before you came here or something?" Rika asked, annoyed, snapping her fingers. "Focus!"

"I can't focus unless you answer my question," Ryo replied, leaning on the table and smiling at Rika pleasantly.

"Ew. Stop doing _that_ and I'll answer," she said. His smile fell off of his face as he regarded her with an emotionless expression. "That's better. This is my bedroom. What the hell is so weird about that?"

"Where's all your… stuff?"

"I have a big closet, right there," Rika replied, motioning towards a door on one wall of her room. "And my futon gets rolled up during the day. It takes up a lot of space at night, so I keep the floor mostly clean during the day. Or else I'll have nowhere to put the futon. Got it?"

"Got it," Ryo said. "Wow, a futon. You're so traditional. I have a bed."

"I really could have lived without that information."

"You know you love the image of me in bed," Ryo shot back gleefully.

"You know you love the image of shut the hell up and listen to me for once!" Rika growled.

"Okay," he replied, strangely obedient.

Rika sighed impatiently. "Look, you of all people know that I would really, _really_ prefer to ignore you or stick pins into your voodoo doll or something, but I've realized that I… ugh. I… um…"

He was loving how uncomfortable she seemed. "You have a voodoo doll of me?"

"No. Silence. Ugh, I can't believe I'm doing this." She looked up and met his eyes with a serious, but slightly patronizing expression. "Akiyama. I need your help."

-x-

"Hey Mom, remember the story of how you and Dad first met?" Rika asked before taking an innocent bite of food.

Rumiko was already very angry with Rika and her outfit, but she didn't want to seem harsh in front of Akira, so she hadn't made her change. After all, that would mean her showering as well, and Rumiko was very aware that Rika would spend two hours "getting ready" if it meant getting out of dinner. Rika's mother wasn't sure why, but Rika seemed to really dislike Ryo. Rumiko couldn't understand it; he seemed like such a nice young gentleman! But she didn't really understand Rika anyway.

Like this comment, for example. Rumiko almost choked on her _sekihan_.

Seiko glanced at her granddaughter, surprised. "Rika, I'm not sure, ah…" She glanced up at Akira, across the table from her. He looked a bit startled too. Seiko continued: "I'm not sure that's an appropriate topic for this meal."

"Hmm? Of course it is!" Rika exclaimed. "Isn't it?" She glanced around, with a confused expression on her face, as if she couldn't understand why it would be inappropriate. "I mean, we're eating _sekihan_, which is what Dad always made for our birthdays. And I'm sure Mom and Dad ate it at the wedding – I've seen the pictures, remember? It was a traditional Japanese wedding, which must have been so nice!" A pause. "Why _are_ we having _sekihan_, anyway?"

(a/n: _Sekihan_, or red _azuki_ bean rice, is basically rice steamed with red _azuki_ beans that give it a red color. It's traditionally eaten for celebratory occasions in Japan, which is why it might confuse Rika that they were eating it then.)

Rumiko's face was red. "It's to mark the celebration of our two-week anniversary!" she replied. "And… um… I'll tell you the story of how we met later, okay?"

"Oh, wait, I remember, actually!" Rika said, meeting Ryo's eyes and smiling. Very fakely. But she needed him.

"I'd love to hear it. Romantic stories are my favorites," Ryo replied, smiling back coolly. _Working with her temporarily is worse than having to be around her permanently_, he kept telling himself.

Rika had asked Ryo to help her in breaking the new couple up. He'd agreed to, a bit hesitantly, not that he didn't want them to separate. Only because he would have to work with Rika. But he weighed his options and gave in. He would work with her. They would be a very, very temporary team, to the extent to which it was humanly possible for two individuals who hated each other that much.

"Well, they went to high school together, but it was a much more interesting story than that. Mom was starting to model, and Dad's dad was the photographer for a magazine. But one day, his dad couldn't come in, so Dad went in for him… And that was the day Mom was there to be photographed!" Rika smiled. "From then, they became friends at school and eventually fell in love… Then they got married early because Mom was pregnant!"

"Okay, Rika," Seiko said. "Is everyone enjoying the food?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

"Yes, ma'am, it's very good," Ryo replied, then turned back to Rika. "Really? Dad just met Mom in college, when they were both in business classes together. Mom always dreamed of being the best CEO ever, but being in charge of a company that helped the environment or gave aid to developing countries or something. But when I was born, she had to become a housewife – "

"Enough, Ryo," Akira said in a low voice. "That's enough."

Ryo felt bad, in a way. He almost felt like he wasn't honoring his mother's death by saying these things, but then again… Akira wasn't really honoring her death by moving onto some new woman, right?

Rika, however, didn't feel guilty about saying these things. Well, okay. Maybe a tiny bit. She didn't want to hurt her mother; she really didn't. But Ryo had to go, which meant that Akira had to go. And it was better to do it now, when they'd only been together two weeks and couldn't really get _too_ close yet.

"Now, Akira, I hear you're quite the businessman," Seiko said, smiling across the table at Ryo's dad.

"Oh?" Akira said, a bit pleased. "What has Rumiko told you?"

Rika glared across at Ryo. _It's not working!_ she thought. He looked blank, and she sighed. Of course he wouldn't be psychic. He was nothing but annoying. "You guys are looking low on _nihonshu_," Rika announced. "Ryo and I will go get some."

(a/n: _Nihonshu_ is basically what we think of when we think of _sake_. In English, anyway. In Japanese _sake_ means any kind of alcohol, and _nihonshu_ is the rice alcohol.)

They went into the kitchen, and Rika whirled around to glower at Ryo. "It's not working," she said, repeating her telepathic message out loud. "We need to try a different tactic."

"Like what?" he asked, glancing around the kitchen as if completely bored with her and her plans. Hmm. There was a pan over there – that had to be about one hundred times more interesting than Rika right now.

She noticed his inattention. Rika's eyes narrowed and she stepped closed to him, shoving him against the wall and leaning in, so he could get the full effect of her glare. It got his attention, and he looked back towards her with his eyebrows raised. "Is this your new tactic? Make our parents break up from the sight of us making out?"

A disgusted expression spread across her face and she shoved him one last time before she crossed to the other side of the kitchen, protectively crossing her arms over her chest so he wouldn't grope her (again?). "Oh my god. You are the most annoying living being on the planet. Do you honestly not care if we wind up as stepsiblings? Sharing a house, a _bathroom_? Being forced to do everything together? You think you hate me now, as your dad's girlfriend's daughter? Think how it'd be if we were _related_, Akiyama."

The image indeed sent shivers up Ryo's spine. "Okay, okay. I get it. I'll be serious about this from now on. You don't have to so painstakingly outline my nightmares or anything."

"No, but seriously? If you think living with me is a nightmare then you're still underestimating. It would be more like hell, times ten."

"Got it. Really. Don't make me wet my pants; these are my _nice_ slacks. So what's our new tactic?" Ryo asked.

Rika shook her head, staring at the floor in thought. "I'm not sure…" She looked back up into his eyes, determined. "Is there anything your dad really hates?"

Hard question. Ryo barely knew his dad. "Um… Fast food… Golf… Pretension… Ah, he really hates phony people. That's probably the biggest thing, I guess. Or what gets on his nerves the most."

Rika was nodding, though she found it hard to believe that Akira disliked golf. Didn't all businessmen have little tiny golf balls running through their veins? Erm, like blood cells? Ew… Get back to the subject, Rika. "Okay," she said. "I can work with that. My mom hates men, but I guess not anymore. She hates mean people and meat and sad movies. She hates it when people treat animals badly."

Ryo frowned. "My dad isn't like… an animal abuser or anything."

"Bad fashion? She hates bad fashion. Oh, one thing she really hates is when people don't do the best they can. I don't know."

"My dad's a complete work-a-holic. And his fashion's pretty good, I guess. It's harder to tell with men. He just wears suits and dress shoes a lot."

A lightbulb basically appeared over Rika's head. "Dress shoes made of leather?" It was a stretch, but it would work for Rumiko.

"Uh.. Yeah? But – ah! Okay then." He grasped it, and she was surprised, thinking she'd have to explain it to him for about six hours. Not that she was impressed in his revealing of multiple brain cells or anything.

"Now, I know it's hard for you to pay attention to anything. But I have faith in you," Rika told him patronizingly, grabbing the _nihonshu_. "Somewhat."

"I'll do my best!" Ryo said cheerfully, and she rolled her eyes. "Don't worry. We'll break them up yet. My intense dislike of you drives me ever forward." He smiled at her sweetly.

Rika nodded slightly, not even making a repulsed face at his not-so-repulsive smile (not that she thought in those terms). "I hate you and you hate me. We can't fail!"

-x-

After a few minutes of casual talking, it was time to act. For Rika, anyway. She was getting tired of just sitting there, pretending to not be completely impatient for the breakup. She knew it had to happen in baby steps, but she was never really the kind who bided her time.

Ryo, on the other hand, was willing to stretch it out so that it was more successful. Of course, he would only tolerate it for a short amount of time, but these things took longer than one night of the Rika-Ryo team. Er… that sounded weird. Best not to join their names. Ever. Made them sound like a couple or something.

"So, Mom."

"Yes, sweetheart?" Another sip – not quite ladylike this time – of her _nihonshu_.

"I was wondering if you'd teach me to do makeup like you can do."

Rumiko nearly started crying from pure joy, while Seiko just stared at her granddaughter. Although she'd had her share of _sake_ too, she couldn't help but be suspicious. This was not a normal occurrence.

"I just – I don't know. Lately I'm kind of bored with how I really look, so I was wondering if you'd teach me how to look like… someone else, I guess? I'm not sure how to explain it. But you look completely different without your makeup, so I know you can help me." Rika hesitated, frowning a tiny bit. "I mean, not that you look bad or anything without it on. You look better than you do with the makeup, actually! But… you know what I mean."

"_I_ sure do," Ryo laughed from across the table. "I mean, when I got this black eye, all I wanted was to hide it so nobody saw the real thing."

"That's exactly what makeup is!" Rika jumped in, with a somewhat-gracious look in his direction. "It's like… a form of art. Illusion, really. Trying to hide something real with something fake but beautiful."

Rumiko smiled a bit, confused. "Well, I guess! Though it's mostly about accentuating your natural beauty – "

"I never wore it before because I always thought… I dunno, it was kind of _phony_," Rika said, cutting Rumiko off quickly and glancing surreptitiously at Akira, who seemed to be pondering the topic. Yes! "But sometimes I need a little bit of phoniness, I guess. Like for zits and stuff?"

"Of course," Rumiko nodded. Seiko still regarded Rika strangely over her cup, but said nothing.

"Oh, don't mention _that_ word around Dad," Ryo laughed. "He's always going on about phoniness and how it's ruining the standards of this country, not to mention the whole world."

Akira chuckled a bit nervously. "Yes, well… Makeup is very important in modeling."

"Oh, no! Are you going to start one of your rants about models being corporate whores again?" Ryo said, a completely good-natured and innocent smile on his face. They couldn't accuse him of being mean, just dumb.

"_Ryo Akiyama_! I have never said that!" Akira replied, his face bright red. "You must have heard that… that… _word_ from someone in America. When you studied there. Ryo's very good at English now; I should start taking him along as a translator in my work!"

Rika had to fight not to laugh at the horribly awkward way he changed the subject. She snuck a glance at Rumiko to see she was sitting there, a rather strained smile on her face. Well, it _was_ better to find out a man's flaws before getting attached, right? She was just helping her mom see that there was no room in her life for Akira.

"Speaking of your work, Mr. Akiyama," Rika began, "you must be very successful. Your suit is very nice, and those shoes you left by the door look quite expensive."

Akira smiled a bit thankfully at Rika, and she returned the expression. If only he knew her true intentions… "Yes, thank you," Akira replied. "I do like to look my best…"

"I guess quality taste in clothing is one of the things you and Rumiko have in common," Seiko said with a smile, and Rumiko giggled a tiny bit. They thought they were all back on track. But little did they know…

"Dad's wearing his favorite shoes today," Ryo pointed out. "They're these really expensive, genuine leather ones from Italy. Right?" Akira nodded proudly and obliviously.

Both Rika and Seiko looked to Rumiko worriedly. The blonde's smile wavered for a moment. "Leather, did you say?" she asked. "Um… that's… that's…"

"Hey, Grandma… Why don't you get the _mochi_ ready and, ah… I can show Ryo the garden!" Rika said, the image of concern for her mother. Leaving the loving couple alone to have their first fight ever. Although Rumiko seemed like a pushover most of the time, she was very stubborn on her animal-rights issues.

"Sounds like a plan," Seiko said, obviously wanting her daughter and Akira to have some alone time to discuss how they could ever dream of going on with a pair of leather shoes dividing them.

Rika walked out to the garden without looking back, and Ryo followed after her slowly.

-x-

"I wish I lived here," Ryo said after a few minutes of silence. They sat on the porch, a good enough distance away from each other, staring out at the courtyard garden.

Rika was just getting used to him being quiet, and sighed that it could be over so soon. "Please don't say that. You might just get your wish. As my stepbrother."

"God, how horrible would that be? You'd probably play angry death music all the time and never shower. And then there's all the pranks that you'd just love to play on me."

"You think I'm bad? You'd hog the bathroom and use up all the hot water every morning, Mr. Huge Ego. And you'd invite over your lame little friends, Kameko and the whore squad."

Ryo was annoyed at this. "Look, I don't say anything about your friends, no matter what I think of them."

"What? You can't possibly think anything bad about my friends. You have a problem with Jeri being too much of a bitch or something?"

"No, but… Never mind. I have too much tact and niceness not to say it in front of you."

"Tell me. Now."

Ryo sighed. "It's just… Kazu and Kenta… They… ah…"

"Oh, Kazu and Kenta? I don't care what you think about them. They're not really my friends, you know. They just hang out with Takato a lot, even though Jeri is a tiny bit afraid of them. Which _actual_ friends of mine do you harbor this huge hatred for?"

"Ugh, I guess none of them!" Disappointing. "But I don't know why you hate Kameko and everyone so much. They're all nice once you get to know them. And fun."

This earned a snort from Rika. "Akiyama, you have no idea what you're talking about. You've known them for like a week. I've had to spend most of my whole life with those self-obsessed wastes of air."

"Don't call them that."

"They've called me worse things than _that_ before."

Ryo couldn't help but be curious. "Seriously, though… Why do you hate them?"

Rika was silent for a moment, then exhaled as she looked up towards the moon, somewhere in between crescent and half, but Rika wasn't sure whether it was waxing or waning at the moment. "Look, they're your friends, and you hate me. Ask them."

Her tone was almost… well, he wasn't sure. He didn't think 'gentle' was the right word, but it was pretty close. Maybe it just didn't seem like the word could be applied to Rika. Ever. "Okay," he replied, not pressing further though he wanted to.

Rika was thankful. They went back to looking at the garden, as the faint voices of Akira and Rumiko could be heard in the still fall air. "Baby cows!" they could hear Rumiko saying mournfully.

A few minutes later, Ryo spoke again. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Do whatever you want."

A pause. "Well, will you answer it?"

"Just ask."

"Okay. Um… what's up with the garden? I've seen ones like it before, of course. But it's Zen Buddhist, right? Kind of clashes with your whole traditional Japanese style house, or else you'd have a Shinto shrine back here or something."

"What's your question, already?"

"I already said it. What's up with the garden?"

"My dad always liked them, and there was space enough here for one, so we built it. Anyway, it's not that weird. A lot of traditional houses have courtyards with these kinds of things in the middle. Nobody really cares about which religions fit which cultures or their gardening styles, Akiyama. It's more like a cultural fusion blend, or something. We have a shower, too. Does that mean my house is a terrible example of traditional style?"

It was the first time he'd heard her mention her dad. Except, of course, at dinner when she was talking about how her parents had met. Ryo wondered what had happened to him, but if he asked, he'd probably ruin this… semi-peace. And he didn't want that. "I was just wondering. So everything's supposed to symbolize something, right? What does it symbolize?"

Rika was growing weary of his questions. "Can we not right now? Can't we just stare out at the garden and achieve inner peace and shut up, for once?"

Ryo sighed. It felt like he'd almost been talking to a different Rika. Not that she spoke in a changed way or anything. But she wasn't so… annoyed. Now her usual self was back, and he wouldn't be able to get anything out of her now. Except more annoyance. Vicious cycle. "Inner peace, huh? I'll try my best if you do," he replied.

Neither of them spoke again until Seiko called them in for _mochi_.

-x-

It was annoying, really, to find out that Ryo and Rika, even while working together, achieved so little. Rumiko was beaming when they got back inside, and Akira announced that he was getting rid of all his leather shoes because he'd been enlightened as to the baby cows that were brutally slaughtered just for fashion.

Before the Akiyamas left, Rika sent Ryo a dull look, and he made a face back at her. That did not go as planned. But they both knew they couldn't give up yet. Not when there was so much at stake.

-x-

**End of Chapter Eight: Attempt 1: Exes and Pet Peeves**

-x-

So, how'd you like it? C: I personally had a lot of fun writing this chapter and it may be one of my favorites so far. Ah, scratch that, all the Rika-Ryo interaction chapters are my favorites! xD

Please review and let me know what you thought. ^^


	9. Sunday

Hey everyone. I'm so sorry for taking so long. I have been having a very stressful time with school, family, relationships, etc. ever since I last updated this story, and I haven't had time for it. But I feel bad, so here's another chapter. Please don't hate me. ;-;

I'll just post this to see if anyone's still reading. If you are, **please review** so I'll know, and I can start writing chapters again. This is a leftover from before that I edited ~

Again, I'm sorry, and thank you so much to everyone who's read this and reviewed.

-x-

**Chapter Nine: Sunday**

-x-

On Sunday morning, Rika got a phone call from Jeri. Why was her best friend always such an alarm clock?

"Hello?" she said, voice muffled by her pillow.

"Riiiika! How are you? Okay, total plan for the day! Ready for it?"

Jeri after just waking up was like eating cotton candy for breakfast: disgustingly sugary and would probably make you throw up afterwards. Not the best way to start your day.

"Um, I guess…"

"You're not doing anything with your family and Akira and Ryo, are you?" Jeri asked, and Rika couldn't help but be rather impressed that she'd already memorized their names.

"No, thank god. We had them over for dinner last night, remember?"

"Tell me about it in person, cause here's the plan! Okay. We go get Takato and some bread, and then we go stop by the cybercafé where Henry works. We can hang out there and get some yummy tea and set you and Henry up!"

Rika looked over to her clock. It was barely nine. Ouch. "Henry doesn't start working until eleven," she said.

"Wow, you know his schedule? You totally like him! And we're going early because… Takato's bread!"

Rika sighed. "Okay," she replied. "I have to shower and get dressed first, though, so… It'll take me a few minutes."

"Meet you at Takato's?"

"Okay."

"Cool! Bye! It's a double date!" Jeri hung up.

Rika flopped back onto her pillow. She didn't want to get up, but saying no to any of Jeri's ideas would only make her sad and possibly cry. So after a few moments, she got up and forced herself into the bathroom.

-x-

Ryo woke up around the same time Rika was about to leave for Takato's.

However, it was by choice. Kind of. There was something terribly depressing about having to set his alarm on a Sunday morning, but he'd promised he'd go see Kameko in the theatre troupe play she was in.

So he dragged himself out of bed and into the shower, where he nearly fell asleep again. They'd stayed at Rika's house – er, rather, _Rumiko's_ house – until late last night, and once they'd gotten back he still couldn't get to sleep. He'd actually paced around in his room until he caught himself doing this and realized it was not exactly normal. And he wasn't quite sure why he had the urge to ramble around his room, anyway.

He was trying to make sense of his thoughts, he guessed.

However, he'd failed. Even after he'd forced himself to get in bed and began watching a boring movie to try and fall asleep, he found that he was still thinking. His brain wouldn't shut up. And now, even in the shower, he was thinkingthinkingthinking.

Which did not, in any way, shape or form mean that he was thinking about Rika in the shower. Not exactly. In fact, when he began to think about the strange conversation they'd had, he felt grossed out that he _was_ thinking about her while he was in the shower, and instead forced himself to figure out a calculus problem on the steamy glass walls of the shower. Naturally, this didn't help him wake up much.

When he emerged from the bathroom, Akira was still asleep and snoring away – must have been the _sake_ – so Ryo just grabbed some weird-looking bread to make toast for breakfast. His hair was already styled, and he'd spent several minutes choosing an outfit to wear. It was the first time he'd be seeing Kameko and her group outside of school, so he wanted to look… presentable. And she'd said the "event" as she called it would be smart-casual. He opted for a plain black collared shirt, some comfortable jeans, and some old sneakers… and then decided it was too casual and not smart enough, so he added an unbuttoned blue blazer and a skinny pink tie to wear loosened around his neck. Ryo was definitely not a guy afraid to wear pink.

After he'd brushed his teeth, he stuffed his keys, cell phone, and wallet inside his pockets and exited his apartment, with the directions to the theater he'd printed out online gripped tightly in his hand. It would be his first time riding the subway since he'd gotten back, and he was hopeless with directions anyway.

He left the building and walked outside.

-x-

One of the unfortunate things about going to Takato's was that she had to walk through her neighborhood. This, of course, meant that someone from her school could pop out of anywhere. Including Kameko and her crowd. Including Ryo.

That would be severely awkward, after last night. Or just in general.

Maybe nobody would recognize her without her uniform – or the old grungy clothes she'd worn when Akira and Ryo came over. Although she claimed not to care much about her appearance, she had to admit that deciding what to wear always took a couple minutes longer when she was going to see her friends. Okay, okay, to see Henry.

She'd finally decided that she wanted to look like she didn't care about her appearance. Thus, she'd grabbed a tight black t-shirt with a lightning bolt dangling from a grey cloud (with an angry face) and some old jeans (her favorite ones). But it was expected to rain again, and it was cold in the courtyard anyway. Plus, she realized that this shirt was too tight, and she'd feel weird wearing it around Henry. Then, she changed her mind and thought that it might not be a bad thing to wear it around him. Then, she nearly shot herself and hauled out her biggest, baggiest sweatshirt to wear over it.

Though she left it unzipped, telling herself it wasn't cold enough to zip it up anyway.

After she'd said goodbye to Seiko and had put on her messenger bag and tattered sneakers, she began the fifteen-minute walk to Takato's house. Listening to her iPod, of course.

And since she had no idea where Ryo lived, it wasn't her fault that she chose to walk the most direct way – down his street.

-x-

Ryo came to the happy conclusion that there was a metro station a few blocks away, though he didn't exactly relish the fact that it was in the direction of Rika's house.

But he told himself not to be paranoid. After all, the vampire queen didn't wake up this early.

It was a nice day, although it was overcast. He preferred cooler weather most of the time, unless he was going to the beach or something. Ryo also finally felt awake. Even though he hadn't slept much, his black eye seemed to have healed some more overnight, and it was barely swollen anymore.

The thing that was bugging him was that he couldn't really figure out who Rika was.

Maybe that's why he'd been pacing around last night. She seemed so different sometimes, like she let her guard down. When she was talking about the garden, for example. He didn't understand.

There he went again, thinking too much. This was the reason he couldn't sleep, he knew it.

How could he avoid thinking so much this time? Ah – of course – study the map some more!

Ryo stared at the piece of paper intently, with the same kind of concentration he usually awarded his notes right before finals. He would learn his away around, and would avoid thinking about Rika.

After all, she was probably telepathic thanks to her contract with Satan, and he didn't want to get another black eye.

-x-

Rika was not watching where she was going. Instead, she was looking down at her iPod, thumbing through her playlist, trying to find a specific song to listen to. When she'd found it, and the familiar music began to play on her headphones, she looked up again.

And nearly had a heart attack.

Walking towards her on the sidewalk was Ryo Akiyama, wearing okay clothes, curse him. It was only thanks to the fact that he was staring at a piece of paper, and that she was in a rich neighborhood where people had small front yards, that saved her. And, of course, her lightning-fast reflexes. Before she even knew what she was doing, she was leaping over a low stone wall and ducking behind it, her heart beating fast.

Of course, it only took a couple seconds for her to realize this was completely ridiculous. She would never live it down if she was caught, which was likely considering it was right next to the sidewalk. So she added insult to injury, and actually crawled through the tiny garden to a small hedge, which she crouched behind, hugging her knees to her chest in a fetal-like position. She turned her head slightly to peer out through the holes in the hedge, watching as Ryo came walking by, his eyes still on the paper, thankfully.

-x-

Ryo hadn't put down the paper until he'd nearly ran into a light pole. As he realized it was there, he jumped back, startled.

He could have sworn he heard a stifled snicker coming from the house next to him, but when he looked, its front yard seemed to be empty.

In any case, he gave the map one last look before tucking it into his blazer pocket, blushing slightly. No need to kill himself on the way there.

-x-

By the time Rika reached Takato's house, the bakery downstairs already had a long line of people extending out the door.

"Excuse me, sorry, move," she said, trying to push past the stubborn, hungry people. "I'm not going to steal your bread!"

Takato's father grinned at her when he saw her and handed her a small pastry – earning her a lot of nasty looks from the people waiting. "Takato and Jeri are upstairs, as usual!" he said, and she thanked him before quickly climbing the stairs and entering Takato's room, already speaking: "I swear, the people here are like ravenous wolves – "

She came face-to-face with two blushing teenagers sitting on the bed, looking quite guilty as they sprang apart from each other.

"Talk about ravenous wolves…" she muttered, feeling herself turn a bit red too. "Um… Do you two need a minute?"

"No!" Jeri squeaked. "No, we're done. Um, we're fine." She took a deep breath and Rika just knew what was coming next: the mindless babbling as a way to change the subject. "So, you took your time, you know? It's almost eleven! We should head over to see Henry soon! I can't wait; the tea there is the best ever. Not the pastries, though – the best ever pastries are right here! Downstairs in the shop, I mean. Did you have anything on the way up? And what took you so long to get here, anyway?"

Rika was used to this, so she wasn't taken aback by all the questions. "I kind of… ran into Akiyama," she said, though this wasn't exactly the reason she'd taken so long (annoyingly, it was because she'd been choosing her outfit).

"Ryo?" Jeri asked. "What do you mean, you ran into him?"

"The kid who came with us to see _Attack of the Super Flame Bots_?" Takato murmured. "Kazu and Kenta's friend?"

"Wait, I want to hear all about dinner last night! And how come you ran into him? Just on the street? Walking here?"

Rika shrugged, flopping down in Takato's chair and dropping her bag on the ground. "Yeah, right down the block from me. I guess he lives near me."

"Well, how was that? Awkward? What did you guys say?" Jeri asked, eyes wide.

"Um. Nothing?"

"What do you mean?" Jeri pressed.

Rika really, _really_ didn't want to have to tell this story. But she knew Jeri was going to get it out of her anyway. "Okay, I saw him coming. Right towards me. And I just… hid."

Takato couldn't help but grin. "Wow! Really? Rika, afraid?"

"I was not _afraid_," Rika growled scathingly. "I just did not want to see him. I did that enough last night. He just kept talking and talking, and we tried to break up our parents but it failed miserably. And he kept asking me questions – like about my courtyard garden and stuff. And he never, ever shut up."

"He seemed friendly enough," Jeri said with a shrug. "Maybe he's just shy around big groups! Next time, let's invite him without Kazu and Kenta."

"No. Way. I am never voluntarily hanging out with that guy."

"What's so bad about him?" her best friend asked.

Takato cleared his throat. "So as much as I love to hear conversations about other guys, could we maybe talk about this on the way to the cybercafé? It's almost open…" He was always eager to be around another guy if Rika was around. He could handle time with his girlfriend, but when there were two girls and him he always seemed uncomfortable.

"Fine," Rika said, standing and picking up her bag again. "And I can sum it up easily. He's an arrogant, egotistical, completely vain jerk who uses people to get his way and to get ahead in life. Did I tell you guys he's like best friends with Kameko and her group?"

Jeri made a face as she pulled on her bright pink coat. "You mean with Ami too?"

Rika walked to the door and yanked it open. "Obviously. She's one of Kameko's little followers." She began to descend the stairs back into the noisy bakery, so she had to raise her voice as the other two followed her. "But until Akiyama, there was no boy to infiltrate the bitch squad, besides Yukio. What does this mean, you wonder?"

"I do!" Jeri affirmed.

"Excuse me, sorry," Rika said unconvincingly as she pushed past the crowd again. "It means that he's working even harder than those girls to become a part of that group!" she ended up yelling back to the others as she reached the door. Squeezing out, she sighed with relief as the cool air stung her warm face.

Jeri, and then Takato, soon caught up.

"Wait, I'm confused," Takato said, as they started to walk towards the cybercafé where Henry worked. "Why would he try so hard to be friends with them?"

"Takato, have I not told you so many times before? They are the stereotypical elitists of the school. They are experts at rising to the top of the food chain. Their parents are the kind willing to support them in whatever they do. They vacation around the world with other children of other CEOs of other multinational corporations. Basically – they have connections. If you're friends with them, there's no way you can fail financially in life. You make connections, and you're way ahead of anyone else, no matter how hard they work. That's why they're so powerful and respected at school. Because if you have connections with them, even if it's hard, hard work to achieve this, you will never have to work hard again in your life."

"I know that," Takato said.

Rika was annoyed. "Then why didn't you interrupt me?"

"Because I still hurt from the last time I interrupted you," he replied. "What I'm wondering is why Ryo would care about that. Doesn't he have connections too?"

"Everyone wants more connections."

"Absolutely everyone?"

"Yes."

"Including you?"

"Hell no! I want the least amount of connections I can get to those awful people at my school."

"Well, there's my point. Maybe he doesn't want connections either."

Rika narrowed her eyes at him. "I seriously hope you didn't just compare me and Akiyama," she said coldly. "I am a different kind of person than him. All he cares about is money and stupid things and connections! There is no other reason to be friends with those reject mannequins!"

"What does that even mean?"

"Shut up, Takato."

"Rikaaaaa," Jeri whined. "Let's stop talking about this guy and talk about something better instead! How about… Henry?"

Rika shrugged, feeling colder every step they got to the cybercafé.

-x-

"Oh my god, you made it!" squealed Hoshi, throwing her arms around Ryo's neck and nearly jumping on him.

He just kind of blinked for a moment, surprised that as soon as he'd entered she'd found him (also surprised to see her in ordinary clothes: black skinny jeans, pink heels, and a loose white top) and then awkwardly patted her back in a kind of lame sort of hug. "Yeah… I… sure… did…" Suddenly, her words dawned on him. "Was I not expected to come?"

She let him go and shrugged, eyes bright. "Nobody knew! But it's great that you came! Here, let's go find the others!" She grabbed his hand and led him away through the theater's elegant lobby to the top of the seats.

It was a huge hall with state-of-the-art equipment. The stage itself was enormous, and Ryo couldn't help but wonder how professional this all was. The theater had rows and rows of velvet stairs, along with eight boxes that surrounded the stage. An orchestra was seated below the stage, and was currently playing a simple musical piece as people sitting in their seats chatted with one another. They seemed strangely dressed-down, though Kameko had said that was the appropriate attire. Since it was a daytime performance, she'd said, it wasn't necessary to wear fancy clothes.

"Wow," he couldn't help but say. "Is this a touring play or a group of high school students?" He laughed, a bit nervously. He hadn't been expecting this.

Hoshi giggled, and he wondered why they were just standing there instead of finding their seats. "The troupe is very advanced, Ryo. A lot of the members are professional actors already. Some are on TV shows or even in some movies, so you might recognize them!"

"Wow," he said again. "That must be a lot of pressure for Kameko." He wondered why she never talked about acting. Probably because she couldn't have much of a part, with a cast like that. "So what part is she playing, again?"

"Katherina," Hoshi replied. "Have you ever seen _The Taming of the Shrew_ performed before?"

Ryo's mouth hung open. He hadn't expected the play to be Shakespeare, and also hadn't expected that she would have that big of a part… "I-I had to read that for school, in America," he replied. "Isn't she… the main character?"

Hoshi smiled, not paying attention. "Kaede is waving to us! Here, let's go!" She grabbed his hand again and towed him away, leaving the auditorium.

"Wait, where are we going?" Ryo asked.

"To our seats," she said.

"Aren't we… going the wrong way?"

Hoshi giggled again. "Not to get to the boxes!" Before Ryo could say anything, she continued, throwing her head back as she navigated through the people standing around in the lobby. "Every one of the main characters gets a box for them. Usually there aren't more than eight main characters. This time, there were about six they gave boxes to. Kameko's box has six seats in it, so it's perfect." She began dragging him up a set of stairs, after flashing two tickets at an usher, who nodded them in. "We're right up here!"

She pushed some curtains aside and suddenly Ryo was standing in a box, in a giant theater, looking out over the audience. Two girls, also standing, turned to face them, and Yukio, who had been sitting, rose with a grin.

Kaede, in a navy dress with bright gold buttons and a pearl necklace, came forward to kiss either of Ryo's cheeks. "So glad you could make it." She was almost at his eye level, thanks to her heels. _This_ was smart-casual? At least they were espadrilles and not stilettos… Not that Ryo knew the difference.

"Ryo! You found it okay? I guess the theater really stands out, it's so big," Yukio drawled, coming forth to shake his hand. His baggy jeans seemed to clash with the dress shirt and argyle sweater vest he wore, but that was definitely an intended effect. Thankfully, he seemed about as dressed up as Ryo. Yukio glanced back smoothly at Ami, who stood there in a black A-line dress with a light pink waist belt, silently. "Well, aren't you going to greet Ryo?"

"…hello," Ami said, though she didn't come forward. He was used to her cold demeanor by now, and wasn't surprised.

It was then that Ryo noticed the champagne cooler beside one of the seats in the box. And the glass that Ami held in her hand.

Um… huge theater, seats in a box, dresses and pearls, and champagne? Definitely not the kind of high school plays he was used to…

-x-

"What a surprise," Henry blinked as he saw his three friends standing in front of him at the counter of the cybercafé.

"A good surprise, right?" Takato asked.

"You're not happy to see us?" Jeri wondered desperately.

Henry shared an amused glance with Rika. "No, no, I am! Definitely a good surprise. Nobody comes in at this time anyway, so I'm the only one working until twelve. So… make yourselves at home."

"Yay! Come on, Takato, I want to show you that email my teacher sent me about my art project!" Jeri led her boyfriend away to one of the farthest computers. Subtle as always…

"Hmm. They didn't even want to come to see me," Henry observed, faking a tragic face. "At least you haven't abandoned me."

Rika rolled her eyes. "It won't be long if you keep talking like that. Can I get some tea here?"

"Of course!" Henry said, grabbing a dishtowel to wipe down the counter with. "Sit down."

She sat at one of the stools at the counter, then wished she hadn't. It sounded too much like an order. He'd turned around, grabbing a cup and beginning to prepare the water for the tea. "I don't care what kind it is, as long as it's black tea. I hate green tea, so don't start about how it's better for me."

"I remember," he said, his back turned to her.

What was that supposed to mean? Why did he know what kinds of tea she liked? Wasn't that a bit creepy? It made her feel sort of happy, though.

"So how come you all decided to come down?" he asked, making his way to the teas and looking through them carefully.

She shrugged, then realized his back was facing her. "It was Jeri's idea," she said. "She really wanted some tea…" Was that stupid to say? She wasn't even _getting_ tea now!

"Yeah," he replied, sticking the paper cup under the hot water machine as it poured out, steaming. "So Jeri dragged you and Takato along so she could get some tea?"

"Yup. Well, I mean. You know Takato. He gets all awkward when he's around just me and Jeri. Like he's afraid he'll become too feminine being around us, with no other guys."

Henry chuckled. "That sounds about right." He unwrapped the tea bag he'd picked out and stuck it into the cup of hot water, though his back still faced her as he stirred it. "No sugar or milk, right?"

"Right."

He turned around, setting the cup before her, still with a tea bag floating in it. "So how about you?" he asked, and she couldn't seem to escape his eyes.

"What do you mean?" she asked, trying to keep a normal tone.

"Didn't you have a reason for coming?" he asked, staring right at her.

Rika did not think of herself as an easily-flustered girl. Certainly, she remained calm and collected when others became flustered. However, she could feel the faint hints of flustering approaching her. Dammit! She had to expel them, quickly. "Like Jeri," she replied, her voice even despite the fact that she couldn't break the gaze between them. "I just wanted some tea."

Oops. That had actually come out somewhat bitchier sounding than she'd meant it to. Not the words, exactly, but her tone.

Something changed in his eyes, and he looked away. "Right. Well, hope you like it." He moved away, towards the door to the back of the café. "There's a problem with the computer in the back, and, ironically enough, it's the only one we can use, so… I have to try and fix it. Let me know if any customers come in, okay?"

"Yeah," Rika said, but he'd already left.

-x-

"You. Were. Amazing!" Hoshi cheered, squealing and giving Kameko (still dressed as Kate from _The Taming of the Shrew_) a huge hug.

Kameko laughed as she patted Hoshi's back a bit – carefully, as if she were still playing the character who didn't exactly relish human contact. "Thank you," she said softly.

"Let us have a turn!" Yukio whined, shoving Hoshi aside and lifting Kameko, giant dress and all, off the ground to spin her around in the air. "You're a star!"

She shrieked, giggling as he spun her. "Yukio, put me down!" He obeyed, and she smiled as Kaede was next to come forward, giving a stiff hug with her tiny, thin arms.

"Great job," the petite girl congratulated her. "You were so believable, especially at the end."

"You mean where I had to kiss Hideki's boots?" Kameko laughed. "That scene took some work." She glanced to Ami, not saying anything but seeming to speak with her eyes.

The dark girl stepped forward as Kaede slid away, and she gave a curt nod. "Good work," she said simply.

Kameko smiled broadly at her. "Thank you, Ami."

Ryo somehow felt it was his turn; as if it was this long line and he was finally supposed to go hug her and congratulate her or something. But he didn't know what to do. Hugging seemed… too intimate. Not in the United States, he'd found when he studied abroad, but in Japan it was reserved for closer friends. He was a newcomer. Although he managed to step towards her casually, with a grin across his face, and hold up one hand towards her, this was all very thought out.

Kameko laughed airily. "What's this?" she asked.

"It's a high five," he explained. "We do it in Amer – "

"I know what a high five is," Kameko replied, and brought her hand against his very gently. "I was just wondering where your idea to do it came from, that's all," she giggled.

"I'm an individualist," Ryo replied with a grin, without having to think about it.

Kameko looked pleased at his response, then turned to look at the whole group that was gathered around her in their box. "Thank you all for coming!" she said happily. "And I'd love to go to an after party, but I'm exhausted. Plus my parents are going to drive me back home, and we're going to have some family meal." She rolled her eyes, shaking her head, but with a smile on her face.

"Oh, your parents came?" Ryo asked, also without thinking. "Did they watch the play?"

Her eyes narrowed in a slow smile. "Of course, Ryo," she replied with a laugh. "They're not just coming to pick me up. They were sitting in another box," she explained.

"Oh," Ryo said, though he'd thought Hoshi said each major actor only got one box. Maybe he'd just heard Hoshi wrong. She talked so quickly, anyway…

"So I have to go backstage to change and everything, but we totally have to party next weekend! Some of the people here are thinking of arranging one with me; maybe we can have it at my house?"

"Awesome!" Yukio grinned. "Now go; your public awaits!"

Kameko chuckled and made a kissing sound. "Air kisses for you all," she called as she began to leave the box. "See you tomorrow!"

"Bye!" most of them trilled (minus Ryo and Ami, who simply waved).

"Damn," Kaede said as soon as they'd gone. She emptied the bottle of champagne into her glass before taking a sip of that. "I was hoping she'd want to do something afterwards. I guess I'll just have to drive back now; does anyone need a ride?"

"Ami, Hoshi and I came in Hoshi's family's car," Yukio said – and Ryo knew he didn't mean the car their family took turns driving, but the towncar that their family driver drove. Ryo remembered that Ami and Hoshi lived in the same apartment building, and Yukio's was two buildings down.

"Ryo, how about you?" Kaede asked, turning to him. "How did you get here, anyway?" she inquired before taking another drink of champagne.

"I took the metro," Ryo replied. Kaede stopped in mid-sip and Yukio gasped audibly. Ryo suddenly felt like an idiot for taking the subway – but why should he? It was really more idiotic to drive around Tokyo, even on Sundays. Still, he felt the need to explain. "I don't have my license."

"You poor thing," Kaede said. "You should have asked me for a ride! I do live just a few blocks away, you know. I would have been happy to pick you up."

"Kaede, you _have_ to give him a ride home," Hoshi pleaded. "You can't let him take the subway back!"

Kaede shook her head. "No, of course not! He'll get all kinds of diseases down there."

"They have a name for them. STDs," Yukio added. "Subway-transmitted diseases."

"You're coming with me," Kaede said. "Friends don't let friends take the metro."

-x-

"You guys didn't have to wait all this time," Henry told his friends as he waved goodbye to his coworker.

"We wanted to wait until you got off work!" Jeri argued. She'd hurried over to Rika after Henry had disappeared in the back. Predictable Jeri had wanted to know both what they'd been talking about and why he'd so suddenly disappeared. Rika had told her, and Jeri had sighed, claiming that Rika needed to stop playing hard to get. Rika argued she didn't want to be gotten anyway. But Jeri had whined and pleaded and finally Rika had agreed to her plan.

"Yeah," Rika said casually. "We should all go do something."

"Definitely!" Takato said, eyes lighting up. Rika wasn't sure if he was in on it or genuinely wanted to hang out (probably the latter; he was quite oblivious to Jeri's constant plotting).

Jeri was about to sound her approval, but Henry made a bit of an apologetic face and replied, "Sorry, I'm kind of tired from work."

He didn't sound sorry. Jeri's face fell – her whole plan was ruined! She looked like she was about to start _crying_.

"Well," Rika said, trying to save the situation, "how about next Sunday? Do you have work then? My school's doing this whole culture festival thing. Our class is probably gonna be really lame, whatever we decide to do, but – "

"That sounds fun!" Jeri jumped in. "Takato, let's go! Henry, do you work?"

Henry shook his head. "Nope, I have the Saturday afternoon shift next week."

"Yay!"

"Okay," Rika said, with the smallest of smiles at Henry. "See you then, Wong."

-x-

For some reason, Ryo hadn't expected Kaede to have a car. Probably because Kameko always drove them around at school. Though he didn't know why he was surprised. It seemed everyone here had their own car to drive around (or be driven around in by some quiet man in a suit).

Ryo had also expected the ride home to be slightly awkward. Kaede was no Ami, but she didn't seem very talkative either. She had a quiet, but controlling, voice that commanded attention when she did use it; usually, though, her comments were few.

But he'd realized that perhaps she just seemed quiet compared to Kameko, Yukio, and Hoshi. In fact… he probably seemed quiet around them too. He didn't say much unless they asked him a question. Too bad Rika couldn't see him then – see, he _could_ shut up!

Kaede, in fact, had the ability to both drive carefully and carry on a fairly comfortable conversation simultaneously. They had been talking about school, the upcoming culture festival, and other things like this for most of the car ride.

"I can't wait to find out what our class does," Kaede said as she slowly rolled up to a stop sign. "I have homeroom with Yukio and Ami and it's a Japanese class, so maybe we'll do something traditional? I have no idea. We all have to come up with one idea to bring in tomorrow, so I was thinking…" She paused, a faint smile on her face as she looked both ways before pulling out across the intersection. "It's stupid."

"No, what's your idea?" he asked, curious.

"Well, we've read some plays in our class. I thought we could perform one. I guess the idea of Kameko's play made me think of that."

"Don't you think that Kameko will want to do a play in her homeroom?"

"No, she's always really tired of them after being in one. And don't you mean your homeroom? You're in that with her, aren't you?"

"Right, sorry."

"Is it calculus?"

He nodded. "Yeah. No idea how to tie that into a culture festival."

"Well, usually it doesn't have much to do with the actual classes. Thankfully. That's the reason why everyone love culture festivals so much; at our school we actually spend a whole week preparing. Meaning… no classes. At all."

"That's awesome," Ryo replied. And it was, actually. The classes at this school were more difficult than those he was used to. It would be nice to have a break… already.

Kaede nodded as she rounded a corner. "Yeah, it is." There was silence for a moment, and Ryo felt awkward. Kaede had been carrying on the conversation for most of the car ride; it seemed strange now that he'd have to work to keep it going. He was trying to think of something to say when she continued speaking: "This may be coming out of nowhere, but do you have any idea what you want to do when you graduate high school?"

"Well, I'll probably go to college. Either here or in the United States somewhere. How come?" He glanced over at her curiously.

She shook her head. "Oh, no reason, really," she replied. "I figured you'd either go to college or work for your father."

Ryo was confused. "Do you know him?"

Kaede shook her head. "Not personally. I've heard the name… Anyway, I was just wondering if you'd go on to college or work for him."

"Maybe neither." It made him feel kind of uncomfortable, like his life was so predictable. "I might do something completely different. I mean, I have no idea what I want to study in college anyway so it might just be more of something that's ingrained into me – I _have_ to go, to get a good job, and whatever." Another glance at her, already awaiting her response to his next question: "What about you? What do you plan to do? Your father is a CEO, right?"

"Yes, that's right. But I won't work for him. He believes that women should stay at home, like my mother. I may go to college, if I have to, but…" She hesitated, her eyes on the cars she was passing but her concentration obviously on what she was talking about. "If I can, I'd prefer to just get married out of high school."

He knew Kaede didn't like school, but this was still surprising. He wanted to ask why she wanted to get married that soon – but if that was what she wanted, how could he question it? Just because he couldn't see himself getting married so soon…

Kaede quickly changed the subject: "But I suppose I do have a reason for asking. Everyone else already knows what they want to do with their lives. Kameko wants to be a famous actress, maybe in Hollywood. Yukio can't wait to take over the business his parents co-manage. Hoshi wants to go to New York and study fashion design. And Ami wants to study biology at some university. But you… You're different from us; I guess because you've lived overseas. It's not a bad difference," she explained, making quick eye contact before focusing back on the road, "it's actually really interesting. But I wanted to know if you, too, had plans for the future. Or a dream, I guess I mean."

Was it wrong that he didn't know what he wanted to do? It sounded like he should already have his life planned out for him. "Well, I like math," he said, and suddenly that sounded so infantile. What could he say? Something that would be… respectable, and impressive. Something that was already approved by them. "But… directing is my passion." What? Directing? Where had that come from?

Kaede's eyebrows raised and she nodded. "I can see that," she replied. "You mean in movies? Which is your apartment?"

"Yeah, for movies," he replied, feeling uncomfortable with this lie. "The building right there, the grey and white one with the doorman."

"I remember now. This is a nice one," she said as she pulled up to the curb. "A lot of students at our school live here. But I wonder why your father doesn't move to an even better one, down by our building? All the best are around where Yukio and Hoshi and Ami and I all live. He can certainly afford it, right?"

She was asking all the questions he couldn't, or didn't want to, answer. "He's lived here for a long time," he found himself saying. "I guess he's used to it… It has sentimental value and stuff. I was born here…"

"Oh, I see!" she turned to him, a smile on her face. "It still is one of the best apartments in this area. Though just because you're down a few blocks, don't think that you can take the subway! Let me know the next time you need a ride."

He nodded, smiling back. He still felt uncomfortable, but it wasn't her fault. She didn't know that these questions would make him feel that way. And it was genuinely nice of her to give him a ride home. "Thanks, Kaede."

"Anytime." As he opened the door, she called after him: "Hey, Ryo?" He turned slightly. "Get ready for the culture festival preparation week! See you tomorrow!"

"Seeya," he said with a grin, and slammed the door behind him. He walked to the door of his apartment building, where he was slowly starting to feel at home again.

-x-

**End of Chapter Nine: Sunday**

-x-

I hope you liked it. Again, please review if you're still reading this so I know if I should begin to write this story again or not. C:


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